Hon. ADLAI E. STEVENSON. 




Hon. WILLIAM J. BRYAN. 



Victorious Democracy 

EMBRACING 

LIFE AND PATRIOTIC SERVICES 

OF 

HON. WILLIAM J. BRYAN 

rPIH FEARLESS AND BRILLIANT LEADER OF THE PEOPLE AND CAN- 
^- DIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 



.TCH FROM THE BEGINNING OF HIS CAREER TO THE HIGH POSITION HE 

HOI^DS IN THE AFFECTIONS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN AN AFFECTION 

Vv'ON BY HIS DEVOTION AND LOYALTY TO THE WELFARE 
OF THE TOILING MASSES OF AMERICA 



By PaCHARD L. METCALF 

THH WELL KNOWN AUTHOR AND EDITOR OF THE OMAHA WORLD-HCRAI 



AND CONCLUDING WITH THE 

LIFE OF HON. ADLAI E. STEVENSON 

CANDIDATE FOR VICE-PRESIDENT 



DEMOCRATIC ISSUES OF 1900 



By a. J. MUNSON 

AUTHOR AND EDITOR 



SPLENDIDLY ILLUSTRATED WITH HALF-TONE PORTRAITS 
AND VIEVv^S 



THE DOMINION COMPANY, 

Publisher Fine Books, 

CHICAGO, U.S. A. 



^ 



3G046 
AUG IS 1900 

SECOND COPY. 

Ofeliversd to 

OROtR DIVISION, 

SFP 5 1900 



CorVRIGHT, 1000, 

KY II. 1,. Barber, 



74164" 



PUBLISHERS' INTRODUCTION. 

To a self-governing people political parties are 
as the tides and currents to the waters of the 
ocean. The latter prevent stagnation ; the for- 
mer check public corruption. 

The Democratic party, founded on the prin- 
ciples of the Declaration of Independence and 
having at the head of its roll of honor the illus- 
trious name of the author of that immortal docu- 
ment, has always stood, as it stands to-day, pre- 
eminently as the party of the people. Ever true 
to the principles on which it was founded, it has 
for nearly a century been the champion of the 
masses in their struggles against the oppression 
of the classes. 

In its efforts to prevent class legislation that 
favors the few at the expense of the many, to 
secure equal rights to all and special privileges 
to none, and to maintain the primitive simplicity 
of the policy and principles of the fathers of the 
Republic, the Democratic party has a record 
superior to that of any other party. 

The policy of the Democratic party is stronger 
to-day than ever before. It condemns the policy 
of expanding the Republic through the slaughter 
of brother men. It condemns the policy of 



8 PUBLISHERS' INTRODUCTION 

enslaving peoples that we may liave a greater 
domain. It denounces the trusts as inimical to 
the best interests of the people. It favors expan- 
sion of the money system as a means of ameli- 
orating want and misery among the masses. In 
the furtherance of these reforms it has selected 
William J. Bryan, that staunch friend of the 
people, the Thomas Jefferson of to-day, and 
Adlai E. Stevenson, the undaunted statesman, 
as its standard bearers. 

It is with these issues and these men that this 
book deals. The purpose of the authors has 
been to treat the subject so fully that the book 
may be useful as a contribution to the public 
intelligence beyond its usefulness as a guide to 
the voter seeking authentic information. The 
book is published in the confident belief that it 
will be welcomed by every supporter of good 
government and every friend of the cause of the 
people. 

THE PUBLISHERS. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



In the services to the nation of Abraham Lincoln, the 
rail-splitter; of James A. Garfield, the canal-boy; of 
James G. Blaine, the school-master ; of the hosts of men, 
who have risen from poverty and obscurity to place and 
power, the splendid possibilities of American citizenship 
have been amply demonstrated. 

It is with these possibilities that this little book has 
to do. For it no literary merit is claimed. It goes to 
the public as the simple and hastily-written life-history 
of one who, unaided by inherited wealth, or environ- 
ment, other than that of the great common people with 
whom he has cast his lot, has risen from obscurity to 
world-wide fame. 

This book deals with facts, not surmises or idle com- 
pliments. It is not intended as a feather in the plume 
of knighted hero, or banner upon the wall of moated 
castle. Its only purpose is to familiarize the people of 
to-day with one who, by force of ability, and unswerving 
honesty, has, like the martyr, Lincoln, won his way to 
fame. 

Lincoln said that he knew that God loved the common 

people because He made so many of them. William 

Jennings Bryan has manfully fought their battles, un- 
9 



lo AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

dismayed by organized opposition, and unswerved by 
temptations of place and power. The honors that have 
come to him have come because the people have recog- 
nized in him the nearest approach to that high ideal of 
the Christian statesman, which was held up by the 
founders of the Republic to be the guide of future 
generations. 

To the cause of popular government, represented by 
its ablest defender — William J. Bryan— this book is 
respectfully dedicated. 

R. L. Metcalfe. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Publishers' Introduction 7 

Author's Preface g 

CHAPTER I. 
Bryan's Early Days 15 

CHAPTER II. 
Bryan's Power over Men 43 

CHAPTER in. 
Bryan in Nebraska 65 

CHAPTER IV. 

Bryan Enters Congress 96 

CHAPTER V. 
Bryan as " Bland's Lieutenant " 118 

CHAPTER VI. 
Bryan's Determined Fight 136 

CHAPTER VII. 

" The Grave Gives Up Its Dead " 161 

CHAPTER VIII. 
How Nebraska Was Redeemed 195 

CHAPTER IX. 
Bryan at Arlington . , 216 

CHAPTER X. 
Bryan as a Lawyer 236 

CHAPTER XI. 
Bryan as an Orator 246 

CHAPTER XII. 

Bryan at Home 262 

II 



12 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Speech in the House of Representatives . . . .271 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Speech on the Rothschild-Morgan Bond Contract . . 287 

CHAPTER XV. 
The Chicago Convention 315 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Bryan's Chicago Convention Speech 322 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Chicago Convention — Continued 338 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Bryan's Speech of Acceptance 366 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Perils of the Gold Standard 419 

CHAPTER XX. 
A Voice from Boston 427 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Hon. Claude A. Swanson's Speech 434 

CHAPTER XXII. 
After the Campain of 1896 . . . . , . . . 459 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
The Convention of 1900 472 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Democratic Platform of 1900 508 

CHAPTER XXV. 
Bryan Nominated for President 521 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
Adlai E. Stevenson . - - ■ Sj'^ 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Hon. Adlai E. Stevenson ) 

V Frontispieces 

Hon. William J. Bryan ) 

Mrs. W. J. Bryan 21 

Mrs. W. J. Bryan and Children 22 

Home of Hon. W. J. Bryan at Lincoln, Neb. ... 39 

Bryan's Farm Residence Near Salem, 111 40 

Hon. W. J. Bryan at Age of 30 57 

Hon. B. R. Tillman 58 

Hon. David Turpie 75 

Hon. Samuel Pasco 76 

Hon. H. M. Teller 93 

Hon. Richard P. Bland 94 

Hon. John W. Daniel in 

Hon. J. C. S. Blackburn 112 

Hon. Jas. K. Jones 129 

Hon. F. M. Cockrell 130 

Hon. Chas. F. Crisp 147 

Hon. Robert E. Pattison 148 

Hon. Horace Chilton 165 

Hon. E. C. Walthall 166 

Hon. W. J. Stone 183 

Clark Howell 184 

13 



14 ILLUSTRATIONS 

J, R. McLean 201 

Hon. G. G. Vest 202 

Hon. Stephen M. White 219 

Hon. John P. Altgeld 220 

Hon. Claude Matthews 237 

Hon. Alex. M. Dockery 238 

Hon. Horace Boise 255 

Miss Minna F. Murray 256 

Hon. Arthur Sewall 273 

Ex-President Grover Cleveland 274 

Hon. Carl Schurz 291 

Henry Watterson . 295 

Hon. James D. Richardson . 309 

Hon. Carter H. Harrison 310 

Hon. B. F. Shively 327 

Hon. Bourke Cochran 328 

Hon. A. P. Gorman 345 

Hon. David B. Hill 346 

Hon. Joseph W. Bailey 363 

Hon. John M. Palmer 364 

Henry George 381 

Admiral W. S. Schley . . . . i- . . . . . 382 

Admiral George Dewey 399 

Dr. J. C. Ridpath 400 

General Wesley Merritt 417 

General Fitzhugh Lee '.418 



CHAPTER I. 
BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS. 

William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic nomi- 
nee for President of the United States, was born 
in the town of Salem, Marion County, Illinois, 
March 19, i860. He is the descendant of the 
Jennings and the Bryan families, whose men and 
women made the world better by their existence 
None of these achieved national distinction, but 
each appears to have performed his or her part 
in life with strict fidelity to duty. Along all the 
branches of the very numerous family it is not 
difficult to observe the existence of a strong fam- 
ily pride. Not that pride which comprehends an 
aristocracy, nor, indeed, that which considers 
genius, but a pride that contemplates the ances- 
try of honest men and women, who provided 
well for their families, educated their children, 
bestowed charity where charity was deserved and 
contributed materially to society in their respec- 
tive spheres. 

The father of William Jennings Bryan was 
Silas Lillard Bryan, and his mother's maiden 
name was Mariah Elizabeth Jennings. The 
American history of the Bryan family begins in 

15 



i6 BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 

Culpepper County, Virginia. A church still 
standing in that vicinity is known as the " Bryan 
Church," and the house in which Silas Lillard 
Bryan was born is also intact. 

William Bryan, the great grandfather of the 
presidential nominee, the first of the family known 
to the descendants, lived in Culpepper County, 
Virginia. Five children were born to this couple. 
One of these was John Bryan, the grandfather of 
William J. Bryan. In 1807, John Bryan married 
Nancy Lillard. Miss Lillard was the daughter of 
one of the best families in Virginia, and she was 
a woman of unusual talent and strength of char- 
acter. In 1828, John Bryan and wife moved to 
Cabal County, living there two years, finally 
locating in Mason County, Virginia, where they 
resided until their death. To this couple ten 
children were born. Of these children two are 
living to-day. One of these children was Silas 
Lillard Bryan, the father of the presidential 
candidate. 

Silas Lillard Bryan was born near Sperryville, 
in what was then Culpepper County, Virginia, in 
1822. He located in Illinois in 1842 and lived in 
Marion County until his death. Silas Lillard 
Bryan was purely a self-made man. He worked 
his way through McKendree College and ob- 
tained for himself an excellent education. For 
thirty years Silas Lillard Bryan was an honored 
member of the Marion County bar. He served 



BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 17 

eight years in the Illinois State Senate, and for 
twelve years — from i860 to 1872 — was circuit 
judge. Judge Bryan was a member of the con- 
vention of 1870, which framed the present State 
constitution of Illinois. 

Silas Lillard Bryan married Mariah Elizabeth 
Jennings. Israel Jennings, a native of Connecti- 
cut, the founder of the Jennings family in Illinois, 
was married to Mary Warden, in Maysville, Ken- 
tucky, in 1800. In 1819, he removed, with his 
family, to Marion County, Illinois, settling near 
Walnut Hill. He was a member of the Illinois 
Legislature in 1827. The union of Israel and 
Mary Jennings was blessed with five children, one 
of whom, Charles W. Jennings, was the grand- 
father of the presidential candidate. Charles W. 
Jennings settled near his parents' home and was 
united in marriage to Mariah Davidson. Eight 
children were the fruit of this union. One of 
these was Mariah E,, the mother of William Jen- 
nings Bryan. 

Russell Bryan, the youngest brother of Judge 
Bryan, located in Salem, in 1841, and still lives in 
that vicinity. Elizabeth Bryan, Judge Bryan's 
youngest sister, married George Baltzell, and 
lives at Deer Ridge, Lewis County, Missouri. 

Zadoc Jennings, brother, and Mrs. Harriett 
Marshall, Mrs. Nancy Davenport and Mrs. Docia 
Van Antwerp, sisters of Mrs. Judge Bryan, still 
survive. The descendants of the Jennings and 



i8 BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 

Bryan families are numerous, and they have con- 
tributed materially to good government and the 
welfare of society in Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, 
Ohio, Arkansas and Missouri. Nine children 
were born to Judge and Mrs. Bryan. Of these, five 
are living. Frances, the eldest sister of the pres- 
idential candidate married James W. Baird. Mr. 
and Mrs. Baird reside at Salem, Illinois. Two 
other sisters. Miss Nanny Bryan and Miss Mary 
Bryan, also reside at Salem. Charles W., the 
only brother of the presidential candidate, is a 
citizen of Omaha. He is six years younger than 
William, and was married four years ago to Miss 
Bessie Brokaw. Judge Bryan, the father of the 
presidential nominee, died March 30, 1880. Mr. 
Bryan's mother died three weeks prior to the 
Chicago Convention. 

A pathetic feature is found in the fact, that the 
mother had in recent years believed that a great 
future awaited her distinguished son, and whatever 
claims may be made and established concerning 
the "original Bryan man," there can be no ques- 
tion but that the devoted mother of the presiden- 
tial candidate was the original Bryan woman. Bryan 
gets his even temper and his sunshine from his 
mother, who was one of the most lovable of 
women. He inherits his eloquence and his courage 
from his father, whose platform speeches and 
whose bravery yet live in the memory of the 
people of Salem. His high character comes from 



BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 19 

both parents, whose careers are full of good 
deeds and whose lives are those of consistent, 
earnest Christians. One of the oldest inhabitants 
of Salem, says: "Judge Bryan, William J. 
Bryan's father, had one weakness. He was not 
content with family prayers, morning and night, 
but he prayed at noon as regularly as the clock 
struck twelve. I have seen him adjourn court 
before twelve o'clock and then kneel at his seat 
in prayer. I saw him once about to mount his 
horse in the public square ; he took out his watch, 
observed that it was twelve o'clock, and kneeled 
beside his horse and prayed. Judge Bryan was a 
very devoted man, and observed what he consid- 
ered to be his religious duty, as strictly as he did 
every official and personal duty. 

It has been related that Judge Bryan had the 
habit of opening court with devotional exercises, 
but this tale is without foundation other than as 
related above. But Judge Bryan had a firm reli- 
ance in divine guidance and inculcated in the 
breasts of his children the same supreme faith in 
the Creator. The same Christian spirit domi- 
nated the life of Mrs. Bryan, mother of the pres- 
idential candidate. There are very many tender 
recollections among the people of Marion County 
of the practical and consistent Christianity prac- 
tised by Judge and Mrs. Bryan. Their purses 
and their energies were always available for the 
advancement of the Christian religion, and their 



20 BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 

store-houses were always open for the relief of 
God's poor. 

It is not surprising that such parents as these 
should have been able to rear up a son whose life 
is modeled after their own good careers, and 
whose public services are dedicated to the cause 
of popular government, as his private life is dedi- 
cated to the service of his parents' Master. 

It is related of Judge Bryan that on one occa- 
sion his poultry house was broken open and a 
large number of prize hens were stolen. Certain 
indications led the Judge to suspect a certain 
worthless resident of the neighborhood. Several 
weeks afterward this worthless resident met the 
Judge while the latter was on his way to court. 
" Judge," said the worthless resident, " I under- 
stand you lost some chickens." " Sh ! Sh ! " re- 
plied the Judge, as he placed his hand upon the 
shoulder of the worthless scamp, " don't say a 
word about it, don't say a word about it, there is 
only three people that know anything about that, 
God, yourself and myself, and I don't want it to 
get out." 

When William Jennings Bryan was six years 
old, his parents moved to a farm in the vicinity of 
the town of Salem. Until young Bryan was ten 
years of age his parents taught him at home, 
hoping to mould his young mind to better advan- 
tage under such circumstances, in his more tender 
years. At the age of ten, young Bryan entered 



BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 23 

the public school of Salem. There he attended 
until he was fifteen years of age, when in the fall 
of 1875 he entered Whipple Academy, Jackson- 
ville, Illinois. Two years later, in 1877, he 
entered Illinois College at Jacksonville, and com- 
pleted a classical course, being graduated in 
1 88 1, at the age of twenty-one, as valedictorian 
and class orator. 

The graduation oration of William J. Bryan, 
with valedictory address, delivered at Illinois 
College, Jacksonville, Illinois, Thursday, June 2, 
1 88 1, was as follows : 

'Tt is said of the ermine that it will suffer capt- 
ure rather than allow pollution to touch its glossy 
coat, but take away that coat and the animal is 
worthless. 

" We have ermines in higher life — those who 
love display. The desire to seem, rather than to 
be, is one of the faults which our age, as well as 
other ages, must deplore. 

"Appearance too often takes the place of 
reality — the stamp of the coin is there, and the 
glitter of the gold, but, after all, it is but a worth- 
less wash. Sham is carried into every department 
of life, and we are being corrupted by show and 
surface. We are too apt to judge people by 
what they have, rather than by what ihey are ; 
we have too few Hamlets who are bold enough 
to proclaim, * I know not seem ! ' 

** The counterfeit, however, only proves the 



24 BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 

value of the coin, and, although reputation may in 
some degree be taking the place of character, 
yet the latter has lost none of its worth, and, now, 
as of old, is a priceless gem, wherever found. 
Its absence and presence, alike, prove its value. 
Have you not conversed with those whose bril- 
liant wit, pungent sarcasm and well-framed 
sentences failed to conceal a certain indescribable 
something which made you distrust every word 
they uttered? Have you not listened to those 
whose eloquence dazzled, whose pretended 
earnestness enkindled in you an enthusiasm 
equal to their own, and yet, have you not felt 
that behind all this there was lurking a monster 
that repelled the admiration which their genius 
attracted? Are there not those, whom like the 
Greeks we fear, even when they are bringing 
gifts ? That something is want of character, or, to 
speak more truly, the possession of bad character, 
and it shows itself alike in nations and individuals. 
" Eschines was talented : his oration against the 
crowning of Demosthenes was a masterly pro- 
duction, excellently arranged, elegantly written 
and effectively delivered ; so extraordinary was its 
merits, that, when he afterwards, as an exile, de- 
livered it before a Roadian audience, they ex- 
pressed their astonishment that it had not won for 
him his cause, but it fell like a chilling blast upon 
his hearers at Athens, because he was the 'hire- 
ling of Philip.' 



BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 25 

" Napoleon swept like a destroying angel over 
almost the entire eastern world, evincing a military- 
genius unsurpassed, skill marvellous in its perfec- 
tion, and a courage which savored almost of rash- 
ness, yet ever demonstrated the wisdom of its 
dictates. For a while he seemed to have robbed 
fortune of her secret, and bewildered nations 
gazed in silence while he turned the streams of 
success according to his vascillating whims. 

"Although endowed with a perception keen 
enough to discern the hidden plans of opposing 
generals, he could but see one road to immortal- 
ity — a path which led through battle-fields and 
marshes wet with human gore ; over rivers of 
blood and streams of tears that flowed from 
orphans eyes — a path along whose length the 
widow's wail made music for his marching hosts. 
But he is fallen, and over his tomb no mourner 
weeps. Talent, genius, power, these he had — 
character, he had none. 

*' But there are those who have both influence 
through Hfe and unending praises after death ; 
there are those who have by their ability, inspired 
the admiration of the people and held it by the 
purity of their character. It is often remarked 
that some men have a name greater than their 
works will justify ; the secret lies in the men 
themselves. 

"It was his well-known character, not less than 
his eloquent words ; his deep convictions, not less 



26 BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 

than the fire of his utterance ; his own patriotism, 
not less than his invectives against the Macedon- 
ian that brought to the lips of the reanimated 
Greeks that memorable sentence, 'Let us go 
against Philip.' 

"Perhaps we could not find better illustrations 
of the power and worth of character, than are 
presented in the lives of two of our own country- 
men — names about which cluster in most sacred 
nearness the affections of the American people — 
honored dust over which have fallen the truest 
tears of sorrow ever shed by a nation for its heroes 
— the father and savior of their common country 
— the one, the appointed guardian of its birth ; the 
other, the preserver of its life. 

" Both were reared by the hand of Providence 
for the work entrusted to their care ; both were 
led by nature along the rugged path of poverty ; 
both formed a character whose foundations were 
laid broad and deep in the purest truths of 
morality — a character which stood unshaken amid 
the terrors of war and the tranquillity of peace ; 
a character which allowed neither cowardice upon 
the battle-field nortyrannyin the presidential chair. 
Thus did they win the hearts of their countrymen 
and prepare for themselves a lasting place of rest 
in the tender memories of a grateful people. 

"History but voices our own experience when 
it awards to true nobility of character the highest 
place among the enviable possessions of man. 



BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 27 

** Nor is it the gift of fortune. In this, at least, 
we are not creatures of circumstances: talent, 
special genius may be the gift of nature ; position 
in society, the gift of birth ; respect may be bought 
with wealth ; but neither one nor all of these can 
give character. It is a slow but sure growth to 
which every thought and action lends its aid. To 
form character is to form grooves in which are to 
flow the purposes of our lives. It is to adopt 
principles which are to be the measure of our 
actions, the criteria of our deeds. This we are 
doing each day, either consciously or uncon- 
sciously ; there is character formed by our associ- 
ation with each friend, by every aspiration of the 
heart, by every object toward which our affections 
go out, yea, by every thought that flies on its 
lightning wing through the dark recesses of the 
brain. 

"It is a law of mind that it acts most readily in 
familiar paths, hence, repetition forms habit, and 
almost before we are aware, we are chained to a 
certain routine of action from which it is difficult 
to free ourselves. We imitate that which we 
admire. If we revel in stories of blood, and are 
pleased with the sight of barbaric cruelty, we find 
it easy to become a Caligula or a Domitian ; we 
picture to ourselves scenes of cruelty in which we 
are actors, and soon await only the opportunity 
to vie in atrocity with the Neroes of the past. 

" If we delight in gossip, and are not content 



28 BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 

unless each neighbor is laid upon the dissecting 
table, we form a character unenviable indeed, and 
must be willing to bear the contempt of all the 
truly good, while we roll our bit of scandal as a 
sweet morsel under the tongue. 

" But if each day we gather some new truths, 
plant ourselves more firmly upon principles which 
are eternal, guard every thought and action that 
they may be pure, and conform our lives more 
nearly to that Perfect Model, we shall form a 
character that will be a fit background on which 
to paint the noblest deeds and grandest intel- 
lectual and moral achievements ; a character that 
cannot be concealed, but which will bring success 
in this life and form the best preparation for that 
which is beyond. 

" The formation of character is a work which 
continues through life, but at no time is it so 
active as in youth and early manhood. At this 
time impressions are most easily made, and mis- 
takes most easily corrected. It is the season for 
the sowing of the seed ; — the springtime of Hfe. 
There is no complaint in the natural world because 
each fruit and herb brings forth after its kind ; 
there is no complaint if a neglected seed-time 
brings a harvest of want; there is no cry of in- 
justice if thistles spring from thistle-seed sown. 
As little reason have we to murmur if in after-life 
we discover a character dwarfed and deformed 
by the evil thoughts and actions of to-day; as 



BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 29 

little reason have we to impeach the wisdom of 
God if our wild oats, as they are called in pal- 
liation, leave scars upon our manhood, which years 
of reform fail to wear away. 

" Character is the entity, the individuality of 
the person, shining from every window of the 
soul, either as a beam of purity, or as a clouded 
ray that betrays the impurity within. The contest 
between light and darkness, right and wrong, 
goes on: day by day, hour by hour, moment by 
moment our characters are being formed, and 
this is the all-important question which comes to 
us in accents ever growing fainter as we journey 
from the cradle to the grave, ' Shall those charac- 
ters be good or bad ? ' 

"Beloved instructors, it is character not less 
than intellect that you have striven to develop. 
As we stand at the end of our college course, and 
turn our eyes toward the scenes forever past — as 
our memories linger on the words of wisdom 
which have fallen from your lips, we are more and 
more deeply impressed with the true conception 
of duty which you have ever shown. You have 
sought, not to trim the lamp of genius until the 
light of morality is paled by its dazzling brilliance, 
but to encourage and strengthen both. These 
days are over. No longer shall we listen to your 
warning voices, no more meet you in those famil- 
liar class-rooms, yet on our hearts 'deeply has 
sunk the lesson' you have 'given, and shall not 
soon depart' 



30 BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 

"We thank you for your kind and watchful 
care, and shall ever cherish your teachings with 
that devotion which sincere gratitude inspires. 

"It is fitting that we express to you also, hon- 
ored trustees, our gratitude for the privileges 
which you have permitted us to enjoy. 

** The name of the institution whose interests 
you guard, will ever be dear to us as the school- 
room, to whose influence we shall trace whatever 
success coming years may bring. 

"Dear class-mates, my lips refuse to bid you a last 
good-bye; we have so long been joined together in 
a community of aims and interests; so often met 
and mingled our thoughts in confidential friend- 
ship ; so often planned and worked together, that 
it seems like rending asunder the very tissues of 
the heart to separate us now. 

" But this long and happy association is at an 
end, and now as we go forth in sorrow, as each 
one must, to begin alone the work which lies be- 
fore us, let us encourage each other with strength- 
ening words. 

•'Success is brought by continued labor and 
continued watchfulness. We must struggle on, 
not for one moment hesitate, nor take one back- 
ward step ; for in the language of the poet — 



'The gates of hell are open night and day, 
Smooth the descent and easy is the way ; 
But to return and view the cheerful skies, 
In this, the task and mighty labor lies.' 



BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 31 

" We launch our vessels upon the uncertain 
sea of life alone, yet, not alone, for around us are 
friends who anxiously and prayerfully watch our 
course. They will rejoice if we arrive safely at 
our respective havens, or weep with bitter tears, 
if, one by one, our weather-beaten barks are lost 
forever in the surges of the deep. 

"We have esteemed each odier, loved each 
other, and now must with each other part. God 
grant that we may all so live as to meet in the 
better world, where parting is unknown. 

"Halls of learning, fond Alma Mater, farewell. 
We turn to take one 'last, long, lingering look' at 
thy receding walls. We leave thee now to be 
ushered out into the varied duties of an active life. 

"However high our names may be inscribed 
upon the gilded scroll of fame, to thee we all the 
honor give, to thee all praises bring. And when, 
in after years, we're wearied by the bustle of a 
busy world, our hearts will often long to turn and 
seek repose beneath thy sheltering shade." 

During his six years at Jacksonville, young 
Bryan made his home with a relative. Dr. H. K. 
Jones, a man of profound learning and high 
character. Mr. Bryan never loses an opportu- 
nity to express his gratitude for the good 
fortune which led him into the Jones family, and 
placed him under the influence of the learned 
doctor and his noble wife. 

In the fall of 1881, young Bryan entered the 



32 BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 

Union College of Law, at Chicago. During his 
attendance at this school his spare time was em- 
ployed in the law office of the late Lyman Trum- 
bull. Mr. Trumbull had an extensive library, and 
as he had taken quite a fancy to the young student, 
Mr. Trumbull gave him every possible advan- 
tage. 

Mr. Bryan's expenses through law school, as 
well as through college, were defrayed by his 
parents. His independent spirit, however, would 
not permit all of the load to rest upon his family, 
and he scrubbed the floors of the Trumbull law 
office, cleaned windows and performed other lit- 
tle services during his spare moments for the 
purpose of obtaining odd wages and thus lessen 
his demands upon the family fund. Newspapers 
have been full of stories intending to show that 
Mr. Bryan worked his way through college and 
law school entirely by his own efforts, paying his 
expenses by dint of hard work. It is true that 
Mr. Bryan's education was not obtained with ease, 
and it is also true that he lost no opportunity to 
lighten the burden his good father had assumed 
in his behalf, but it is no less true that Mr. Bryan 
owes his education largely to his parents, who 
lost no opportunity to push their son to the front 
and to give to that son every possible advantage 
whereby his splendid manhood could be devel- 
oped. No man was ever blessed with parents 
more devoted or more self-sacrificing in their 



BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 33 

children's interests, and no parents ever reared a 
son more worthy of filial devotion than is William 
Jennings Bryan. 

Mr. Bryan remained at Union College for two 
years, graduating there in June, 1883. He located 
at Jacksonville, July 4, 1883, and swung this 
shingle to the breeze : 



W. J. BRYAN, 

Lawyer. 



Mr. Bryan was married October i, 1884, to 
Miss Mary Baird, of Perry, 111. The young law- 
yer very soon built up a paying practice and he 
remained at Jacksonville until 1887, when, with 
his young wife and child, he removed to Ne- 
braska. 

Young Bryan early manifested a love for pol- 
itics. In 1880, at the age of twenty years, he 
took the stump for Hancock, and delivered Dem- 
ocratic speeches at Salem, Centralia and two 
other points in Illinois. In the campaign of 1884 
young Bryan, at the age of twenty-four, took the 
stump for Grover Cleveland. Mr. Bryan's first 
political speech was delivered in 1880, at the 
court house in Salem. But there is an interesting 
story about the first political speech that he did 
not deliver. Several weeks before the Salem 
speech young Bryan was working on the farm of 



34 BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 

N. B. Morrison, of Odin, Illinois. A political 
meeting was arranged for a grove several miles 
away. Hand-bills were distributed, announcing 
that two distinguished men, giving their names, 
and " Mr. W. J. Bryan " would address the 
"gathered hosts." When the day came young 
Bryan and the distinguished orators drove to the 
grove. When they arrived they found a man in 
charge of the grove, one man with a wheel of fort- 
une, and two men presiding over a lemonade 
stand. With the exception of a few children 
from the neighborhood that was the extent of the 
" gathered hosts." The orators waited until late 
in the evening and no one came to hear them. 
Young Bryan returned home, possibly greatly 
disappointed, but he was rewarded within a few 
weeks by being able to deliver that speech before 
a great gathering at Salem. 

Bryan's boyhood is without sensational features. 
If he ever robbed a melon patch, it is not a mat- 
ter of record. If he was ever guilty of mischiev- 
ous pranks, no one recalls the fact. He was a 
light-hearted, good-natured lad, who, in his more 
tender years, devoted himself to two things : 
hard physical work, and earnest, persistent duty. 

Bryan's splendid physical development, is due to 
his out of door exercise, and work on the farm dur- 
ing his boyhood. His first employer was John 
Odin, and in the days of his youth, John W. Pat- 
rick, now a railroad freight clerk, at Cincinnati, 



BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 35 

finds considerable pride in the fact, that he was 
the second employer of William Jennings Bryan. 
Mr. Patrick several years ago lived in Salem, 111. 
He was a neighbor of the Bryan's, and at one 
time purchased a field of hay from the elder 
Bryan. While the harvesting was in progress, 
young Bryan was employed by Mr. Patrick, to 
carry water to the farm hands. 

Professor S. S. Hamill, of Decatur, Illinois, is 
the teacher under whom young Bryan studied 
elocution, while attending Illinois College at 
Jacksonville. Speaking of his pupil recently, 
Professor Hamill said : " He was a good student, 
and stood first in all his studies, but he was an 
awkward speaker. I had many pupils, but few 
that made the lasting impression on me that 
Bryan did. That was because of his intentness 
and earnestness in that particular study. There 
were not many who studied elocution long, but 
with Bryan, that seemed to be the one thing in 
which he desired to excel. He was not satisfied 
with the instruction in the class, but took a term 
in private, for which he paid me twenty dollars. 
While others were trying to beg off the pro- 
grammes of literary societies for orations, he took 
extra assignments and worked on all of them with 
the greatest earnestness. He made political 
speeches about Jacksonville in the following cam- 
paign, and made some reputation for himself 
After that, he was often selected to represent the 



36 BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 

colleges in oratorical contests, and won honors 
for both the college and himself in them. I have 
rarely had a more determined or brilliant student. 
I recognized him then as a bright scholar, who 
was bound to make his mark, by reason of the 
determination with which he went at all he did." 
Mrs. A. V. Beville, of St. Louis, was a Sabbath- 
school teacher of young Bryan. Concerning her 
pupil, Mrs. Beville recently said : " He attended 
my Sunday-school class for years and was a fre- 
quent visitor at our house. Mr. Bryan has never 
missed writing to me of his doings and of his 
progress. He is still to me one of my boys. He 
was a great favorite with all who knew him. He 
was always full of fun and dearly loved a joke. 
He could tell a capital story, and was moderately 
fond of out-door sports. Although he came to 
Sunday-school regularly, he was not by any means 
a meek boy. He was full of spirits and seemed 
to have a natural fund of goodness in him. He 
was always fond of reading. He was a good 
student as you can tell when reading of his record 
in college. However, his great application to his 
books did not render him either unhealthy or 
morbid. He was one of the heartiest, most 
wholesome of boys and the apparent contradiction 
of his studious bent and his jolly nature endeared 
him doubly to me. He was a very considerate 
fellow. I remember once when I was sick in 
bed and he and three other of my scholars 



BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 37 

came to see me. They were told that they 
could not see me, but I heard their voices, 
and called down to say they might come 
up if they did not stay long and did not do 
any talking. They came and gazed at me as 
though I was a dead person. William overcame 
the situation by approaching the bed and asking 
in a deep voice, ' Are you better ? ' The simple 
question was very characteristic of him, and after 
I had assured him that I was better, he went 
away satisfied. One thing about Mr. Bryan I 
think has, in a great measure, contributed to his suc- 
cess. He was always willing to listen to advice. 
He used to give the most careful attention to 
what others said. Even as a little boy this trait 
was very marked. From his earliest childhood 
he has been the soul of honor, honesty and truth. 
I never heard of any unkind or unfair action of 
his. His life seemed to have been cut from very 
pure material. He inherits much of this rectitude 
and beauty of character from his father. Judge 
Bryan, who was noted for his piety and goodness. 
William had set his heart on going to Oxford. 
His father,also, who always took an active interest 
in the boy's education, had likewise determined 
that his son should attend the great English Uni- 
versity when he finished his college course here. 
It was supposed to be a settled fact, but Judge 
Bryan's death changed everything, and William, 
without a moment's hesitation, gave up all 



38 BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 

thoughts of Oxford because the family could not 
spare the money. William never went to Oxford; 
so the credit of his cultivated intellect must re- 
main on this side of the water. His oratorical 
powers are the result of his careful study of 
human nature. In his numerous letters to me he 
mentions getting ready for his examination days, 
the orations he had to study and all that. 

"Whether speaking came naturally to him when 
he jumped into manhood, I cannot say, but I am 
sure he never would have succeeded in the way 
he has if it had not been for his untiring energy. 
He has not a lazy bone in his body, and he seems 
to be a strano^er to fatio;-ue. When we moved 
to St. Louis, William always stopped a day with 
us on his way home from the college at Jackson- 
ville, and, I remember, we were reminding him 
one day of the agreement made between the 
Sunday-school boys to read the Bible through 
during the year. He replied that he had not for- 
gotten, and that he and some of the fellows at 
college had agreed to read the Book of Proverbs 
through once a month for a year. He must have 
kept the agreement very well, for I don't know 
anyone fuller of proverbs than Mr. Bryan. He 
is also full of jokes and stories, and never seems 
to lack matter for conversation. Judge and Mrs. 
Bryan were Baptists, but William belonged to the 
Presbyterian Church. He is a religious man, 
and a moral man in every sense of the term, and 




HOME OF Hon-. W. J. BRYAX, AT LINCOLN, NEB. 



BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 41 

while attending church with punctilious regularity, 
he never offends people with a parade of piety. 
The combination of natural goodness, wit, good 
humor and eloquence, topped by his cultivated 
and commanding intellect, render Mr. Bryan to- 
day the most remarkable man of my acquaintance. 
I remember, I told him one day that, when the 
capital was moved to St, Louis, when he was 
nominated for president, and when women could 
vote, I would be perfectly happy. He replied, 
with his charming and quizzical smile: ' Ah, you 
are looking far into the future.' While never 
indulging in extravagant apparel, Mr. Bryan was, 
nevertheless, always very carefully dressed. As 
a boy, he was neat, and paid careful attention to 
his linen and cravats. He was fond of society, 
and found time to indulge in social frolics with his 
many less studious friends. In short, you will 
see that Mr. Bryan's success is the result of 
application, earnest endeavor, and high resolves. 
He was reared upon a sure foundation. He had 
health to begin the race with, and intellect to 
enable him to forge ahead. The present glorious 
culmination of his career should be a shining ex- ' 
ample to all men. Mr. Bryan's life has not been 
marred or blotted by any vice. He is not addicted 
to the use of any stimulants, such as liquor or 
tobacco. His manners are easy and graceful in 
the extreme, and with his ringing voice and 
sparkling eyes, he represents a magnificent speci- 
men of manhood." 



42 BRYAN'S EARLY DAYS 

In closing her glowing description of Mr. 
Bryan, Mrs. Beville said: "I am not saying all 
this simply because I am fond of him, but because 
it is the conviction of all who know him. You 
can't say anything too good for William J. Bryan ; 
and, oh, I hope he will be elected ! " 

This is the story of "Bryan's early life." 
There is to this portion of his career no romance, 
and little of more than ordinary interest. The 
greatest interest will, however, attach to his sub- 
sequent career, which has been remarkable in 
many respects. 



CHAPTER II. 

BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN. 

When William J. Bryan was nominated to be 
President of the United States by the Democratic 
National Convention at Chicago, his political op- 
ponents and newspapers whose editors were not 
in sympathy with the principles he has so gallantly 
represented confidendy declared that his nomina- 
tion was due entirely to his admirable speech upon 
that occasion. Many people who are not familiar 
with Mr. Bryan's remarkable record readily ac- 
cepted this idea as a fact. It is true, however, that 
Mr. Bryan had already established a national rep- 
utation among the champions of bimetallism as an 
able advocate of the restoration of the coinage of 
the Constitution. When the Chicago Convention 
assembled, there were hundreds of delegates 
present who had closely watched Mr. Bryan's ca- 
reer, who had either read or heard delivered 
many of his splendid speeches upon the money 
question and who had learned that this young 
man had fought the battles of free coinage when 
his followers were few and weak and his op- 
ponents numerous and strong. They knew 
that his private character, no less than his pub- 
lic record, was entirely creditable. They knew 
43 



44 BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 

that he was a man conscientiously committed to 
the principles he had espoused. It is perhaps 
true that his splendid speech before that Conven- 
tion turned the tide immediately in his favor, but 
it is no less true that the tide had already set in 
that direction among the people who were repre- 
sented by the delegates to that Convention. The 
unprecedented public demonstrations which have 
been accorded Mr. Bryan since his nomination 
show that upon the hearthstones of the people 
the fires of enthusiasm in his behalf had been 
kindled by the grateful men and women \/ho had 
carefully observed his career. 

It is true that William J. Bryan is a great 
orator, perhaps one of the greatest this country 
has ever produced, but had he been only an 
orator, he would not occupy his present distin- 
guised position. Behind the orator is the man, 
firm in his adherence to principle, devoted in his 
observation of the rules which guide the goocj 
citizen in private life. The mighty demonstration 
at Chicago which was produced by Mr. Bryan's 
speech was a strange sight to the world. But 
the people of Nebraska during the last eight years 
have often seen the same public demonstration, 
on a smaller scale it is true, but no less intense in 
character. 

In 1888, on the occasion of Mr. Bryan's first 
public appearance in Nebraska, he drew men to 
him by the power of the orator, and held them 



BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 45 

there in subsequent years by the virtues of the 
man. Since that time he has undergone, as a 
pubHc speaker, a steady course of improvement. 
It has been the privilege of the writer to hear 
every important poHtical speech made by Mr. 
Bryan in Nebraska, and including his Congres- 
sional efforts, and to this writer perhaps this im- 
provement has been more noticeable than to any 
other of Mr. Bryan's auditors. As a newspaper 
correspondent the writer has witnessed Mr, 
Bryan's joint debates and observed his complete 
triumphs over his opponents and his complete 
capture of the hearts of his auditors. 

Bryan's power over men was well demonstrated 
in Nebraska, before the Chicago Convention was 
called to order. 

In 1890, when he accepted the nomination to 
Congress in the First Nebraska District, he led 
what seemed to be a forlorn hope against what 
appeared to be an invincible foe. But Bryan 
triumphed. He beat down an overwhelming op- 
position majority, because of his power over men. 

Two years later, when his district had been re- 
arranged, with a special view to his certain defeat, 
and when money in unlimited sums was distributed 
against him, Bryan won because of his power 
over men. 

In 1894, when he fought at the head of the loyal 
Silver Democrats of Nebraska in the effort to 
wrest the temple of Democracy of that State from 



46 BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 

undemocratic hands, Bryan won because of his 
power over him. 

In 1896, when he went to Chicago at the head 
of a delegation whose seat was contested, without 
right or reason it is true, but contested, never- 
theless, when few men had any idea that Bryan 
would be the nominee of that Convention, Bryan 
was nominated because of his power over men. 

It is undoubtedly true that this power is par- 
tially due to Bryan the orator, but the greater 
part of it is due to Bryan the man. The ability 
to meet and conquer the ablest of those who deny 
the correctness of his political principles is cer- 
tainly a valuable talent. But the fact that the 
man who is able to draw men to him by the power 
of oratory is able to retain friendship or admira- 
tion by his undeviating traits of character is the 
greatest power that any man may possess. Bryan 
does that. He has done that in the city of Lin- 
coln, his home. He has done that throughout the 
State of Nebraska. He has done that in the halls 
of Congress, where men are not readily influenced. 
He has done that among the trained newspaper 
men of the country, men whose keen eyes readily 
detect hypocrisy or insincerity. He has done that 
throughout the States of the Union, wherever he 
has made himself known, and he will do that in 
national life if the people triumph in November. 

This estimate is placed upon Mr. Bryan's char- 
acter by one who has met him and associated with 



BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 47 

him under various circumstances and conditions. 
When it is said that he is a gende, manly man, it 
is not with the purpose of flattery, but with the 
desire to state an absolute fact. As a man he 
would not do his humblest nor his greatest fellow- 
man an injury or an injustice. As a lawyer he 
would never knowingly plead a dishonest cause. 
As an editor he would never knowingly advocate 
a dishonest or an unpatriotic idea. As a member 
of Congress he would not cast his vote upon any 
proposition, great or small, against what he re- 
garded the interest of the people whom he was 
elected to serve. As President of the United 
States he would be the people's executive, the 
cleanest, the best and the bravest since the days 
of Abraham Lincoln. 

The most interesting feature of Mr. Bryan's 
public career is the consistency of his political 
principles. There is nothing that he represents 
now that he has not represented in all of his pub- 
lic life. Every platform upon which he has ac- 
cepted a nomination for office provided that no 
caucus dictation should be permitted by a repre- 
sentative in Congress to interfere with his consci- 
entious representation of his constituents. 

No one wondered, when his party colleagues in 
the House determined to unseat a Republican, 
that Mr. Bryan refused to cast his vote in accord 
with that decision. He said to the House that he 
had investigated the circumstances and he be- 



48 BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 

lieved the Republican was entitled to his seat and 
therefore proposed to vote for him, and his vote 
was recorded that way. 

Every platform upon which he has accepted 
a nomination for office has protested against the 
giving of subsidies of any kind from the public 
treasury. He has maintained the integrity of that 
plank at every opportunity. The beet sugar in- 
terests have been an important political factor in 
Nebraska, but in the State Legislature, in 1891, 
when the State bounty on beet sugar was to be 
repealed, and a strong lobby was operating against 
the proposed repeal, Mr. Bryan visited the Legis- 
lature in person and gave to the Democrats and 
Populists of that body his good advice and vigor- 
ous encouragement. The result was that the 
bounty was repealed, only to be replaced by a 
subsequent Republican Legislature. 

Mr. Bryan's platforms have favored an income 
tax, and his splendid fight in behalf of that meas- 
ure is a matter of history. 

Mr. Bryan's platforms advocated the election 
of Senators by the people, and he used his best 
efforts in Congress to carry that plank into execu- 
tion. 

Some people were surprised when immediately 
following the Chicago Convention Mr. Bryan an- 
nounced that, if elected to be President, he would 
under no circumstances accept a second term, on 
the ground that a President should be free from 



BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 49 

possible motive to work for renomination, and 
thus be able to discharge the duties of his high 
office for the greatest good to the greatest num- 
ber. But when we look back over Mr. Bryan's 
political history in Nebraska, we find that in two 
of his platforms almost the identical words used 
in this announcement are embodied in the planks 
of those platforms. 

Bryan's political platforms have advocated rigid 
economy in public expenditures, and his record in 
Congress shows that he has lost no opportunity 
to carry that principle into execution. 

Bryan's home life is that of the ideal American. 
He is the companion of his wife and children as 
well as the devoted husband and father. 

Bryan's public interest in the people who suffer 
under heavy public burdens is not assumed. It 
is characteristic of the man who has a tender 
sympathy for every personal woe. Having no 
vices, he is not extravagant in his public expendi- 
tures, while he is methodical in his personal affairs, 
and jealously provides that his expenditures shall 
never exceed his income. At the same time he 
has a warm, generous heart and his limited purse 
has, only too often, been at the disposal of those 
in distress. 

One of Mr. Bryan's most striking characteristics 
is his mildness. It may be difficult for those who 
have seen him on the platform, hurling defiance 
eloquently at the enemies of popular government, 



50 BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 

to imagine that this is a man who was never known 
to lose his temper. He is temperate in all things. 
He is open to reason and is entirely considerate 
of the opinions of others. He is true to his friends 
and no man would go further than he to accom- 
modate a worthy acquaintance. 

Because Mr. Bryan is a brilliant leader of men, 
it has in some quarters been assumed that he is 
hasty and unstable, if not erratic. Nothing could 
be further from the truth. His whole private life 
and his entire public career prove that Mr. Bryan 
is as deliberate as a philosopher in forming his 
opinions and that he is firm as rock in standing 
by his convictions. 

Few men at fifty are as mature in judgment 
as Mr. Bryan is at thirty-six. Few men at fifty 
have devoted so much time to the arduous study 
of the science of Government as Bryan has at 
thirty-six. Pitt was prime minister of England 
before he was thirty; Napolean was crowned 
Emperor of France at thirty-five ; Alexander 
Hamilton had attained world-wide fame as a states- 
man at thirty-three ; Thomas Jefferson wrote the 
Declaration of Independence before he became 
thirty-four. Time will show that Mr. Bryan is en- 
tided to rank among these extraordinary men, not 
simply as a brilliant leader, but also as a profound 
student. His powers as an orator are naturally 
the first to secure public recognition, but it is his 
intellectual force and firmness of character which 



BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 51 

will in the end win for him the lasting- glory which 
is accorded to men truly great. He has all of 
Jefferson's devotion to the interests of the people, 
and all of Jackson's courage in defending them. 
These two statesmen are his models, and in him 
they may almost be said to live again. 

One of the tender features of Mr. Bryan's 
private life is his associations with the boys' class 
in the Presbyterian Sunday School in Lincoln. 
For a number of years Mr. Bryan has been the 
teacher of this class, and the depth of the affec- 
tion on the part of the pupils to their distinguished 
teacher could not but be gratifying to any one 
upon whom that affection was bestowed. 

On the Sabbath following Mr. Bryan's nomina- 
tion the Rev. W. K. Williams, clergyman of the 
M. E. Church, filled the pulpit of the Presbyterian 
Church of which Mr. Bryan is a member. 

In the course of his sermon Mr. Williams said: 
"We are told in the twenty-sixth verse, twelfth 
chapter, of First Corinthians, that if one member 
suffers, all the members suffer with it, and that 
if one member is honored, all the members 
rejoice. One of your members has been highly 
honored by the people; he has been honored by 
God, and I rejoice that a fellow-citizen and a 
member in Christ has been thus highly honored. 
I also rejoice in the purity of his life, in the 
nobility of his thought, in the vigor of his young 
manhood, in the majesty and grandeur of his im- 

4 



52 BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 

passioned eloquence, and in the fearless manner 
in which he proclaims to the world the principles 
that lie deep within his heart. I shall continue to 
pray that God will keep him pure and make him 
a yet mightier force for good in this nation, and 
that Christ shall be his leader always." 

In writing of Mr. Bryan, Hon, Champ Clark, of 
Missouri, gave this admirable description of him: 

"Bryan is a collegiate, and has stowed away in 
his capacious cranium much of the golden grain 
of wisdom and litde of the husks, and it is all 
there for use, either as argument or embellish- 
ment. Some men are so ugly and ungainly that 
it is a positive disadvantage to them as public 
speakers. Some are so handsome and graceful 
that they are on good terms with the audience 
before they open their lips. Of the latter class 
Bryan is a shining example. His appearance is a 
passport to the affections of his fellow-men which 
all can read. He is the picture of health, mental, 
moral and physical. He stands about 5 feet 10, 
weighs about 170, is a pronounced brunette, has a 
massive head, a clean-shaven face, an aquiline 
nose, large under jaw, square chin, a broad chest, 
large, lustrous dark eyes, mouth extending almost 
from ear to ear, teeth white as pearls, and hair — 
what there is left of it— black as midnight. 
Beneath his eyes is the protuberant flesh which 
physiognomists tell us is indicative of fluency of 



BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 53 

language and which was one of the most striking 
features in the face of James G. Blaine. 

" Bryan neglects none of the accessories of ora- 
tory. Nature richly endowed him with rare 
grace. He is happy in attitude and pose. His 
gestures are on Hogarth's line of beauty. Mel- 
lifluous is the one word that apdy describes his 
voice. It is strong enough to be heard by thou- 
sands. It is sweet enough to charm those the 
least inclined to music. It is so modulated as not 
to vex the ear with monotony and can be stern 
and pathetic, fierce or gentle, serious or humor- 
ous, with the varying emotions of its master. In 
his youth Bryan must have had a skilful teacher 
in elocution and must have been a docile pupil. 
He adorns his speeches with illustrations from the 
classics or from the common occurrences of 
everyday life with equal felicity and facility. 
Some passages from his orations are gems and 
are being used as declamations by boys at school 
— the ultimate tribute to American eloquence. 

" But his crownino- o-ift as an orator is his evi- 
dent sincerity. He is candor incarnate, and, 
thoroughly believing what he says himself, it is 
no marvel that he makes others believe." 

One of the closest friends of Mr. Bryan in Lin- 
coln, who is himself a lawyer, relates an incident 
which occurred several years after the arrival of 
Bryan in Nebraska. This was in 1890, when the 
young men of the Democratic party in the Pirst 



54 BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 

Nebraska Congressional district were urging Mr. 
Bryan to make the race for Congress. Without 
money and comparatively a new man in the State, 
it did not seem to his more cautious friends that 
there was much chance of his success in a district 
which had gone Republican two years before by 
a majority of 3400. The Republican member, 
W. J. Connell, was a candidate for re-election and 
it was he who in the previous contest had defeated 
J. Sterling Morton, one of the Democratic pio- 
neers of Nebraska. These cautious friends en- 
deavored to show to Bryan that he had but litde 
to hope for in the unequal fight for the seat in 
Congress. One of these, Judge C. L. Hall, a 
Republican, but a warm friend of Bryan, advised 
him to let the nomination for Congress go to any- 
one who would take it and turn his attention to 
an endeavor to get the office of county attorney 
of Lancaster county, where there was a reason- 
ably good show for his election. Mr. Bryan 
looked serious for a moment and then replied to 
Judge Hall's suggestion by saying, with a decision 
that could not be shaken, " What you say is pos- 
sibly true, but I had rather be a defeated candi- 
date for Congress than a successful candidate for 
county attorney." 

This subordination of certain pecuniary profit 
and professional advancement to the desire to put 
before the people his opinions on public questions 
has been characteristic of Mr. Bryan since he 



BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 55 

grew to manhood, and was as well known among 
his acquaintances in Illinois, when he had his 
office with the law firm of Brown & Kirky at 
Jacksonville, as it afterwards became in Ne- 
braska. 

Little things tell even in the lives of great men. 
Mr. Charles C. Moore, of Carlyle, 111., relates an 
incident that happened in the city of St. Louis 
during the Republican National Convention. Mr. 
Moore says : 

" Myself and friend were on our way to the 
Auditorium from the Planters' Hotel and had 
reached Twelfth street. We were walking along 
chatting together, not noticing anyone in parti- 
cular. A one-armed bicyclist attracted our atten- 
tion for a few moments, and I remarked then that 
he was in a dangerous vicinity, as there were 
many vehicles on the street. The bicyclist was 
not given further thought until we had proceeded 
on our journey a block and a half, when we ob- 
served the one-armed man and bicycle piled up 
in one promiscuous heap. A man was observed 
to emerge from the surging mass of people and 
proceed to render assistance to the unfortunate 
wheelman. 

" We stopped and watched the pair. The man 
who had so kindly gone forward and offered 
help was busily engaged in assisting the bicyclist 
replace his tire, which had left the rim, and other- 
wise straighten the injured machine. When 



56 BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 

matters had been satisfactorily adjusted, the kind 
gendeman, with greasy hands and soiled linen, 
made dirty by the work, returned to the sidewalk. 
Upon closer investigation it was found that the 
man was none other than W. J. Bryan." 

Mr. Bryan is quick at repartee. On one oc- 
casion in a public speech, Mr. Bryan said some- 
thing about silver falling like manna from heaven. 
In a public interview J. Sterling Morton remarked 
that Bryan could not be well posted on the 
Scriptures. He reminded Bryan that the streets 
of Paradise and the harps and crowns were all 
golden, and he pointed with some pride to the 
fact that the gold standard prevailed in heaven. 
When these suggestions reached Mr. Bryan he 
said that that was a severe thrust at Mr. Cleve- 
land's idea of international bimetallism to come 
from a member of the Cabinet. "For how," in- 
quired Mr. Bryan, "can international bimetallism 
be right if they have a gold standard in heaven?" 

Mr. Bryan added : " I have been told that some 
of the members of the Cabinet wear diamonds. 
If they are so anxious to be in accord with heav- 
enly custom they should put pearls on their shirt 
fronts, for we read inverse 2 1, chapter xxi,, of Reve- 
lation, that "each gate of the New Jerusalem was 
a pearl." 

Mr. Bryan does not parade his Christianity, but 
he adheres stricdy to it in every walk of life. He 




Hon. W. J. BRYAX, AT AGE OF 30. 

When he was first elected to Congress. Picture taken at close of a joint debate when he was 
presented with floral pieces Bhown. 




Hon. B. K. TILLMAN. 



BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 59 

is fond of quoting the last verse of Bryant's lines 
" To a Waterfowl ; " 

" He who from zone to zone 

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, 
In the long way that I must tread alone 
Will lead my steps aright." 

In a eulogy on a dead colleague in Congress, 
Mr. Bryan used these eloquent words, full of the 
beautiful faith which has been his guide in his 
public and private life : 

" I shall not believe that even now his light is 
extinguished. If the Father deigns to touch with 
divine power the cold and pulseless heart of the 
buried acorn, and make it to burst forth from its 
prison walls, will He leave neglected in the earth 
the soul of man, who was made in the image of 
his Creator ? If He stoops to give to the rose- 
bush, whose withered blossoms float upon the 
breeze, the sweet assurance of another spring- 
time, will He withhold the words of hope from the 
sons of men when the frosts of winter come ? If 
matter, mute and inanimate, though changed by 
the forces of Nature into a multitude of forms, can 
never die, will the imperial spirit of man suffer 
annihilation after it has paid a brief visit, like a 
royal guest, to this tenement of clay ? 

" Rather let us believe that He who, in His ap- 
parent prodigality, wastes not the raindrop, the 
blade of grass, or the evening's sighing zephyr, 



6o BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 

but makes them all to carry out His eternal plans, 
has given immortality to the mortal, and gathered 
to Himself the generous spirit of our friend." 

Mr. Bryan is one of the bravest of men. He 
never yet dodged a question concerning his atti- 
tude upon any public affair. He never held back 
because the hill which it was his duty to climb 
1 seemed too steep for a human being to ascend. 
He never indulged in personalities, but in a con- 
test of principles he has been relentless and has 
shown no mercy to his foe. He has never asked 
for quarter in any contest where duty called him. 
He has never evaded a political fight and has 
demonstrated a perfect willingness to lead his 
forces to battle upon the enemy's territory. 
Those who are best acquainted with him were not 
surprised when he suggested Madison Square, 
New York, as the place where he would meet the 
notification committee. That is riorht in the heart 

o 

of the territory claimed by the enemy as its own, 
and that was the very point suggested by the 
courage and determination characteristic of Mr. 
Bryan's entire career. 

One of Mr. Bryan's marked characteristics has 
been his absolute confidence that the principles he 
has advocated will uhimately triumph. The writer 
has seen Mr. Bryan fresh from a hard-earned 
victory at the polls, when every politician, as well 
as the people, was anxious to pay him homage; 
and he has seen Bryan in defeat. In both instances 



BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 6i 

it was the same Bryan. True, in the presence of 
victory the heart was lighter, but it could not be 
said that in defeat that heart was heavy. There 
is no room within Bryan's great make-up for 
despondency. Every defeat he regarded as being 
of temporary importance. His friends, who mo- 
nopolized the despondency of the occasion, were 
reassured by the young statesman's confident 
declaration, "Our principles are right and they 
will ultimately prevail. Victory will be all the 
greater because a few battles have been lost 
before Appomattox has been reached." 

Ccrmmenting upon Mr. Bryan's nomination at 
Chicago, the Washington City Post said: 

" We do not wonder that on the following day, 
still palpitating under the spell of Bryan's won- 
drous eloquence, the convention turned to him as 
a needle to a magnet. It may not be capable of 
analysis, it may not be coldly and accurately 
demonstrable. The fact remains, Bryan swept 
the floor of the convention as the fire sweeps the 
autumn prairie. The delegates went to him in a 
strange passion of desire. Nothing could check 
the fury of their bent. He was nominated — 
slowly at first, swifdy next and at last, in a wild 
crescendo of enthusiasm, he was lifted on a white- 
cap of unanimity and thrown high and dry on the 
beach of his surpassing triumph. 

"The country at large knows little of this ex- 
traordinary young man. He has been in Con- 



62 BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 

gress. He delivered a speech upon the tariff that 
enchanted and enchained the House. He has 
spoken many times since with reference to the 
tariff, and always he has held his audience as the 
sirens held the fated crew that sailed with Ulysses 
from the shore of Troy. He is a minstrel, a form 
of grace, a thing of beauty. What he is beyond 
that, who knows? 

" He has no record in statesmanship. He was 
too young to assert his patriotism thirty-five years 
ago. What schemes of government, what social 
theories occupy his brain, no human being can 
disclose. He is young, he is ardent, he is am- 
bitious, he is gifted widi the power to sway men's 
minds, he is a born leader, an attractive figure on 
the stagfe, and that is all we know. Whether the 
American people, after four months of solid 
deliberation, will confide their destinies to his un- 
tried hands, we do not undertake to prophesy. 
What we do know is that William Jennings Bryan 
is the most dramatic product of our National 
politics, the most sensational and picturesque 
creation of our age." 

William J. Bryan cannot be said to be an "un- 
tried man." It is true so far as the White House 
is concerned he is "untried," much as Abraham 
Lincoln was " untried." But from the beginning 
of Mr. Bryan's career, from boyhood to manhood, 
from Lyman Trumbull's office in Chicago to the 
Democratic nomination to be President of the 



BRYAN'S POWER 0\'ER MEN 63 

United States, William J. Bryan has met and dis- 
charged every duty as it arose and discharged 
that duty with credit to himself. Like Lincoln he 
was tried and found "not wanting" in small 
things, and like Lincoln, if he shall be tried, he 
will be found "not wanting"* in great things. 
Like Lincoln he had the confidence and the love 
of all men who knew him well, and like Lincoln 
he will, if given the opportunity, extend that con- 
fidence and that affection until it embraces the 
people of the entire Union. 

Mr. Bryan's career will not be regarded as 
meteoric by one who analyzes that career care- 
fully. He has developed as political conditions 
have developed. He has grown in public estima- 
tion steadily and strongly, first in the hearts of 
the citizens of his own home, then of his own 
State, and finally into the broader national field 
which he entered in the discharge of his duty as 
an eloquent advocate of popular government. 

In his work on "Abraham Lincoln and Men of 
War Times," Col. A. K. McClure says, " It was 
the unexpected that happened in Chicago on that 
fateful 1 8th of May, i860, when Abraham Lin- 
coln was nominated for President of the United 
States. It was wholly unexpected by the friends 
of Seward. The campaign in Pennsylvania was 
really the decisive battle of the contest. A party 
had to be created out of inharmonious elements 
and the commercial and financial interests of that 
State were almost solidly against us. I cannot 



64 BRYAN'S POWER OVER MEN 

recall a commercial man of prominence in the 
city of Philadelphia to whom I could have gone 
to solicit a subscription to the Lincoln campaign 
with reasonable expectation that it would not be 
refused. Of all our prominent financial men I 
recall only Anthony J. Drexel, who actively sym- 
pathized with the Republican cause." 

That condition, in some respects, at least, may 
-be similar to the conditions of 1896. But in spite 
of all obstacles Lincoln was elected, because he 
represented principles dear to the hearts of the 
people ; because in his public and private life he 
had so lived as to win for himself the love and the 
esteem of his fellow-citizens. 

It is said of Abraham Lincoln, that he never 
shirked a duty ; that he was a man who knew his 
countrymen well and sympathized with them 
thoroughly; that he was equal to every emergency 
with which he was confronted. The same may be 
said with equal truth of William J. Bryan. If 
Mr. Bryan shall be elected to the Presidency, the 
fathers and mothers of America may point with 
pride to the fact that the White House is occupied 
by a man whose public service is dedicated entirely 
to his people's interest, and whose private life is 
without a flaw. The ideal President of an ideal 
Nation he will be ; one whose ear will be " tuned 
to listen to the heartbeat of humanity," one who 
will regard his ofifice as a sacred trust to be dis- 
charged in the hope of accomplishing the greatest 
good for the greatest number. 



CHAPTER III. 

BRYAN IN NEBRASKA. 

Mr. Bryan located in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 
October, 1887. From his Illinois home he had 
gone to Lincoln on law business, and while there 
he had met his old schoolmate, A. R. Talbot, Esq. 
Mr. Bryan was so captivated with the little city 
that he entered a law partnership with his old 
schoolmate, under the firm name of Talbot & 
Bryan. Returning to his Illinois home he closed 
up his affairs there and with his family removed to 
Lincoln, v^/here he has since resided. At that 
time Lincoln was what is known as a " Republican 
stronghold." The few Democrats in Lincoln soon 
discovered that a man of more than ordinary 
ability had come among them, while the men of 
other political parties learned that their new fellow- 
citizen was one capable of gracing any commun- 
ity. Mr. Bryan devoted himself to the practice 
of his profession, and he soon became a favorite 
in all circles. Invitations to address literary soci- 
eties, college associations, town meetings, and 
political gatherings came fast, and Mr. Bryan soon 
established for himself a local reputation, not so 
much as an orator as for a logician. It did not 
require long for this reputation to spread over the 
- 65 



66 BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 

State, and when Mr. Bryan was elected as a dele- 
gate from Lancaster County to the Democratic 
State Convention, in 1 888, he was in great demand. 
Newspaper reports of that convention contain the 
following paragraph : " The youngest voter in 
the convention was Mr. Bryan, a bright young 
Democrat from Lancaster County. Mr. Bryan 
was rocked in a cradle made of hickory, and 
while he never cast a vote for ' Old Hickory,' he 
has, since his majority, never cast a ballot for any 
presidential candidate who did not represent the 
principles of true and tried Democracy." The 
same report contents itself with this reference to 
Mr. Bryan's first convention speech in Nebraska: 
" Mr. Bryan of Lancaster County was then called. 
He came forward and delivered a spirited address 
in the course of which he said, that, if the plat- 
form laid down by the President in his message 
upon the tariff question was carried out and vig- 
orously fought upon in the State, it would, in the 
course of a short time, give Nebraska to the 
Democracy. He thought that if the Democrats 
went out to the farmers and people who lived in 
Nebraska, and showed them the iniquity of the 
tariff system, they would rally around the cause 
which their noble leader, Grover Cleveland, had 
championed." 

The limited newspaper reference to Mr. Bryan's 
speech on this occasion did not do justice to either 
the effort or the manner in which it was received 



BRYAN IN NEBRASKA dy 

by his auditors. As a matter of fact it created 
the greatest amount of enthusiasm, and the young 
orator impressed his personality indehbly upon the 
pubHc mind of his adopted State. Mr. C. V. Galla- 
gher, then Postmaster of Omaha, approached Mr. 
Bryan, and complimenting him upon his effort 
said : " Young man we will send you to Con- 
gress." Although Mr. Gallagher did not pretend 
to speak with authority, his words were in the 
nature of a prophecy, and the Democrats of the 
First Congressional District did send William J. 
Bryan to Congress two years later. 

At that time the great leaders of Nebraska 
Democracy were Dr. George L. Miller, the 
founder of the Omaha Herald, and now Collector 
of Customs for Omaha, James E. Boyd, who 
subsequently became Governor of the State, and 
J. Sterling Morton, now the Secretary of Agricul- 
ture. The Nebraska Democracy had for many 
years been split into factions by what was known in 
common parlance as the "slaughter-house" and 
the "packing-house" Democracy. On one side 
Mr. Morton and his followers were arrayed, while 
Dr. Miller and Mr. Boyd were the leaders of the 
other faction. The rank and file of the party, 
while true in the factional contests to their leaders, 
had become weary of the discord and turmoil 
within their own party ranks, and for this reason 
perhaps, they turned more readily to the new man 
who had come among them. At that time no one 



68 BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 

had any thought ot the great prominence which 
this young man would attain in political affairs. 
But at that time no one had foretold the great 
public emergencies that would arise. And right 
here it is worthy of observation, that as these 
public emergencies developed, William J. Bryan 
developed with them. 

In 1888 the First Congressional District of 
Nebraska comprised eleven of the most populous 
counties of the State. The cities of Omaha and 
Lincoln were in this district. In that year J. 
Sterling Morton, the present Secretary of Agri- 
culture, was nominated by the Democrats ; the 
Republicans had nominated W. J. Connell, one of 
the ablest lawyers of the State. Mr. Connell was 
elected over Morton by a plurality of 3,400 votes. 

As the campaign of 1890 approached, a few 
Democrats, who had come to appreciate Mr. 
Bryan's real ability, believed that with him as the 
nominee, the Republicans could be defeated. 
But these confident gentlemen were pointed out 
as mere enthusiasts ; so when the Democratic Con- 
gressional Convention met at Lincoln, July 31,1 890, 
the nomination was not sought by any man. One 
gentleman, it is true, announced his willingness 
to accept the honor, but he only received a few 
votes from his own county. A few scattering 
votes were distributed to favorite sons, but Mr. 
Bryan was nominated on the first formal, by a 
majority of 115, out of a total vote of 159. 



BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 69 

There were a few gentlemen who came out of 
that convention who entertained and expressed 
some hope that Bryan would be able to overcome 
the overwhelming Republican majority. But 
their predictions were simply laughed at, even by 
many of their own party associates. 

The platform upon which Mr. Bryan was first 
nominated for Congress declared for tariff for 
revenue only, condemned the giving of subsidies 
and bounties of every kind "as a perversion of 
the taxing power," favored liberal pensions to the 
disabled veterans, favored an amendment to the 
Constitution, providing for the election of United 
States senators by the people, declared for the 
Australian ballot system, declared against trusts 
in all their forms. That platform also contained 
these two planks: "We demand the free coinage 
of silver on equal terms with gold, and denounce 
the efforts of the Republican party to serve the 
interest of Wall Street as against the rights of 
the people." Also : " Believing that the duty of 
the representative is to represent the will and 
interests of his constituents, we denounce as un- 
democratic, any attempt by caucus dictation to 
prevent a congressman from voicing the sentiment 
of his people upon every vital question." 

These two planks serve as an index to Mr. 
Bryan's subsequent political course. Unswerving 
in his devotion to the first plank, he has preached 
the doctrine of bimetallism from, the stump in 



70 BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 

every State and from his seat in Congress. Al- 
ways mindful that the people have no voice in 
legislation, except through the vote and voice of 
their representative, he has hewn strictly to the 
line of his people's interest as he learned their 
interests, and has refused to surrender any prin- 
ciple in which he believed those popular interests 
to be involved. Mr. Bryan's speech, in accepting 
his first congressional nomination, inspired great 
hope in the breasts of his "enthusiasts." On 
that occasion Mr. Bryan said in part: — 

''Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : — 

" I scarcely know in what words to express my 
high appreciation of the honor which you have 
conferred, and my deep sense of the responsi- 
bility which the nomination imposes upon me. I 
shall cherish in grateful remembrance your kind- 
ness, which has resulted in this nomination. I 
accept from your hands and at your command the 
standard for this district, and, whether I carry it 
to victory, or, as our President has gracefully ex- 
pressed it, fall ' Fighting just outside of the 
breastworks,' it shall not suffer dishonor. You 
have nominated me knowing that I have neither 
the means nor the inclination to win an election 
by corrupt influences. If I am elected it will be 
because the electors of this district, by their free 
and voluntary choice, have chosen me for their 
Bcrvice. I have read your platform. If elected 



BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 71 

I ahall consider its conscientious execution as my 
first duty, and I can follow its directions the more 
cheerfully because the sentiments therein ex- 
pressed have my unqualified approval. In mat- 
ters not covered by the platform I shall feel free 
to act for the best interests of my constituents 
and of my country, according to the best light 
that I have. I cannot promise my course will be 
free from mistake, but I will promise that every 
duty devolving on me, whether great or small, as 
your representative upon the floor or in the exe- 
cution of the details of the office, will be dis- 
charged as my judgment shall dictate and to the 
best of my ability, so help me God. 

" This is the first canvass, I may say, that I 
have ever been called upon to make, and I lack 
the experience which frequent contests, whether 
successful or unsuccessful, would give. I must 
rely, therefore, largely upon the wisdom of the 
committee which you select. If it is their wish, I 
am ready to meet in joint debate, in every county 
in my district, the champion of high taxes, who- 
ever he may be, and I shall go forth to the con^ 
flict as David went to meet the giant of the 
Philistines, not relying upon my own strength but 
trusting to the righteousness of my cause. 

"Your platform says that the object of Gov- 
ernment is to protect every citizen in the enjoy- 
ment of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, 
unaided by public contribution and unburdened 



>j2 BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 

by oppressive exactions. That is, indeed, the 
criterion by which every law should be judged, 
and it is only when that rule is disregarded that 
laws become unequal. Government is per- 
verted and its instrumentalities turned to private 
ends. It is only when that rule is disregarded 
that class legislation springs up in its multiplied 
form, and robbery in the form and under the sanc- 
tion of law begins its work of enriching the rich 
and impoverishing the poor. To the disregard of 
that rule can be traced every evil that flows from 
bad government, and by its wise application can 
be remedied every wrong which we now suffer. 
You have condemned the McKinley bill, and well 
you may ; for of all the wolves that in the cloth- 
ing of sheep have sought their unsuspecting vic- 
tims, that wolf is the most ravenous that we have 
known. Well has the Chicago Tribune likened 
the effect of the McKinley bill upon the farmer to 
the treatment of Amasa by his friend Joab. 'And 
Joab said, art thou in health, my brother ? And 
Joab took Amasa by the beard to kiss him, and 
Amasa took no notice of the sword that was in 
Joab's hand, so Joab thrust him in the fifth rib 
therewith, and he died.' May we not hope that 
Amasa — the farmer — sees the sword in Joab's 
hand and will escape ? 

"You have demanded the election of United 
States senators by the people. However wise 
the founders of our Government may have been 



BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 73 

in making provision for the election of United 
States senators by the legislatures of the various 
States, we believe the time has come for a change. 
A seat in the United States Senate, the highest 
legislative body known among men, should be 
given as the reward for labor done in behalf of 
the people. It should not be an honor sold at 
auction to the man who is able to purchase it. 

" You have condemned the caucus. Upon no 
plank do I stand with more firmness than upon 
this. And I am glad that our party, the repre- 
sentative of the principles of free government, 
has taken a position against any caucus dictation 
that will prevent a congressman from represent- 
ing freely, fully and fearlessly the interests of his 
constituents upon every question. But this is no 
time for speech-making. It is not needed for en- 
couragement. You who have stood by your 
party in the hours of adversity, when you found 
virtue its own and often only reward, could not 
be aided by any words of mine. Nor is it needed 
for instruction. For we have it upon good au- 
thority that the sick and not the whole need a 
physician. Let us prepare for the work which lies 
before us. When this convention has adjourned 
I desire to meet every delegate. And if time 
permits I will visit you in your homes. I will call 
upon you upon your farms and help you make 
hay while the sun shines, and I shall expect you 
to help me make votes all the time. It is no 



74 BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 

small task to shake hands with 70,000 voters and 
learn the names and ages of twice that number 
of children, but with your help I will try to ac- 
complish it. Let us fight shoulder to shoulder, 
and carry on the batde all along the line, fighting 
for good government and the interests of our 
fellow-men. We are inspired by the noblest 
instinct that can inspire to deeds of bravery, and 
if you can work half as earnestly and bravely for 
the success of this ticket as your candidate does, 
your representative in Congress for the next two 
years will bear the name which my parents thirty 
years ago last March gave to me." 

The people generally did not receive the news 
of Mr. Bryan's nomination with any very serious 
thought. It was generally believed that the over- 
whelming Republican majority could not be over- 
come. And yet the Democratic party was con- 
gratulated, even by its opponents, upon having 
selected a clean and able man as its standard- 
bearer. Gen. Van Wyck, who was supposed to 
be thoroughly acquainted with Nebraska politics, 
and whose sympathies with reform measures were 
well established, said Connell's election was as- 
sured, and that Bryan stood " not a ghost of a 
chance." 

The Omaha World- Herald, which newspaper 
had been Mr. Bryan's consistent champion, took a 
more hopeful view of the situation and said 
editorially : 




Hon. DAVID TURPIE. 




Has. SAMUEL PASCO, 



BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 'jj 

** The action of the Democratic convention of 
the First Congressional District in nominating 
William J. Bryan, of Lincoln, for Congress ensures 
a lively campaign for tariff reform and probably a 
victory also. 

" Young, eloquent, earnest and able, Bryan is 
the very best standard-bearer who could have 
been chosen to lead the recently-aroused masses 
against the fortifications behind which the favored 
classes are entrenched. He not only fully under- 
stands the methods by which the people of the 
West have been despoiled, but he has a happy 
faculty of discussing the tariff issues so that 
even 'the way-faring man, though a fool,' can 
understand the evils of the present Republican 
policy on the great national issue, 

"Mr. Bryan is as popular as he Is able, and his 
integrity is as acknowledged as his ability. Ex- 
emplary and studious in his habits, he has always 
taken a keen interest in politics — not as the poli- 
tician does, but rather as the statesman should. 
Upon the national issues, past and present, Bryan 
will prove himself to be thoroughly informed. 
His convictions are deep and his manner earnest. 
He is poor and he has stated in advance that he 
had nothing to contribute towards the campaign 
except his own services ; but the World-Herald 
believes that in the thorough canvass of the dis- 
trict, which Mr. Bryan will make, an influence 
more potent in winning votes will be found than 
the gold of a boodle candidate. 



78 BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 

"The people of the big First may expect to find 
Mr. Bryan often on the stump for tariff reform, 
but never up the stump." 

The RepubHcan newspapers of the district 
thought to cripple the Democratic nominee by 
ridicule. They applied to him the designation 
" Young Mr. Bryan." The Democratic news- 
papers accepted the challenge, and pleading 
guilty to the charge that their candidate was not 
old, declared "Young Mr. Bryan would be a 
credit to Nebraska in the lower house of Con- 
gress." 

At the Democratic State Convention for Ne- 
braska, held in 1890, the name of Bryan was on 
every tongue, and he stirred that convention to 
great enthusiasm by an eloquent speech from 
which these extracts are taken : 

"We have declared in favor of free silver. We 
demand that the white metal and the yellow metal 
shall be treated exactly alike. For two hundred 
years before the Republican party demonetized 
silver, the ratio between silver and gold remained 
almost the same. In the seventeen years since 
demonetization, gold has risen from i to 16 to i to 
22, and values have been shrinking in proportion. 

" We have demanded the election of the United 
States senators by the people and no answer can- 
be made to our demand that does not deny the 
right of self-government. 

"We denounce the McKinley bill, which under 



BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 79 

the guise of protection to American industries, 
seeks to increase the load of an already over- 
burdened people. What is a protective tariff? A 
tax levied upon the many for the benefit of a few. 
(Applause.) What does it mean ? It means 
that when a man has labored for six days to pro- 
vide the necessaries for his family, he has given 
four days for what he buys and two days for the 
tax. It means that four months out of a year 
are given for tribute — that a third of his life is 
wasted. It is strange that, under such conditions, 
so many are unable to lay aside in life's summer 
enough to support them in life's decline. (Ap- 
plause.) Some have grown enormously rich, 
while the many have become extremely poor. 
Dives has prospered and Lazarus still sits waiting 
for the crumbs that fall from the table. (Ap- 
plause.) The mass of Republicans in this State 
are as earnest in their desire for tariff reform as 
we are, but they have hoped for their own party. 
They have deluded themselves with the belief that 
the Republican party was only flirting with organ- 
ized wealth, and that it would finally wed the poor 
man, but the marriage between the grand old 
party and monopoly has been consummated, and 
'what God has joined together let no man put 
asunder.' (Laughter and applause.) 

"When Ulysses, returning home, approached 
the island of the sirens he put wax in the ears of 
his sailors and had himself tied to the ship's mast 



8o BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 

so he could not turn aside. We have no sirens 
singing to-day, but there is a voice of moaning 
coming up from the agricultural classes — a great 
wail of distress, and the commanders of the Re- 
publican ship have stopped the ears of their sail- 
ors and made them deaf to the cry of the people, 
while they themselves are so tied to the protected 
interests by ante-election promises that hearing 
they cannot heed. (Long-continued applause.) 

" Let us bring light to those that sit in dark- 
ness. As honest men to honest men present the 
iniquities of the robber tariff and success will 
come. How long will our farmers worship at the 
shrine of a high tariff? 

" In Australia they have a tree called the 
cannibal tree. Its leaves, like great arms, reach 
out until they touch the ground, and on the top of 
the tree there is a cup containing a mysterious 
kind of honey. Some of the tribes worship this 
tree, and on their great days surround it, dancing 
and shouting. Then one of their number is se- 
lected as a victim, and at the point of spears is 
driven upon the tree. He tastes of the fluid and 
the cup and he is overcome by a strange intoxica- 
tion. Then those great arms, as if instinct with 
life, rise up and, encircling him in their powerful 
folds, crush out his life while his companions look 
on with shouts of joy. (Applause.) Have we 
not seen a like picture in Nebraska? Farmer 
after farmer has been crushed to death in the arms 



BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 8i 

of an oppressive tariff, and yet farmers have 
been found who, within sight of their unfortunate 
companions, have shouted their praise of the 
great American system. 

"Let us hope that we are on the eve of a 
brighter day when equal laws will lighten the 
burden of the toiling masses. (Long-continued 
applause and cheers.) 

Mr. Bryan immediately took the stump in 
his district, and drew men to him, on a smaller 
scale it Is true, but in the same way as he drew 
men to him at Chicago, and as he has always 
drawn men to him wherever he has appeared in 
public. 

The Omaha World- Herald sounded the first 
note of genuine hope to the Democrats of the 
First Nebraska District, when, in an editorial two 
months before the election, that newspaper an- 
nounced: " Mr. Bryan is tearing Mr. Connell's 
fences into pieces, and if Wm. J. Bryan could 
personally meet one-half of the voters of the 
First district, the election of the young orator, by 
an overwhelming majority, would be assured. 
But Mr. Bryan will make a thorough canvass of 
the district, and wherever Bryan goes he wins 
earnest champions to his cause." 

Mr. Bryan's remarkable campaign was well de- 
scribed in the following editorial in the World- 
Herald : 

"The campaign which Mr. W. J. Bryan is 



82 BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 

making in the First Congressional District is as 
strong and vigorous as it is clean and honorable, 
and that is saying much. 

"He is speaking five or six times a week, and 
it is noticeable that he draws large audiences and 
makes good impressions. He handles the great 
tariff question in so fair and candid a way and 
discusses it in such plain and simple language 
that a child can understand the points and follow 
the argument. He wastes no time on oratorical 
flights or glittering generalities, but he talks di- 
rectly to the point, discussing the question with 
the earnestness of strong convictions and the 
eloquence of honest words. 

"If Bryan is not a great orator he is, at least, 
a convincing speaker, and he deals with his facts 
so frankly and ably that he wins votes every- 
where. 

" He is, moreover, not a dodger. On every, 
thing he is outspoken and explicit. He never 
fails to announce that he is against prohibition. 
He tells this to small groups of farmers where 
prohibition may be in favor as readily as he tells 
it to city audiences wh^re it is not. In short, 
Bryan is a strong character as well as a clean one, 
and he is making a campaign on principle. 

"He is a tower of strength to the cause of 
democracy and of the people, not only because he 
is a popular candidate, but because he never fails 
in his addresses to dwell upon the importance of 



BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 83 

electinif Mr. Boyd and his ticket over Mr. Rich- 
ards and his. 

" Bryan, as a campaigner, is a success. He will 
be a congressman." 

Mr. Bryan invaded Omaha, the home of Mr. 
Connell, and he addressed a great gathering of 
Omaha people, impressing upon his auditors his 
earnestness, his eloquence and his ability. 

Republican leaders had by this time become 
thoroughly alarmed. They realized that a strong 
man had been pitted against them. 

In that year the Prohibition question was before 
the people of Nebraska, and in the hope of injur- 
ing Mr. Bryan, one distinguished Republican 
orator charged him with being a Prohibitionist. It 
was charged that at a banquet given by the mem- 
bers of the bar, in Lincoln, Mr. Bryan opposed 
the use of liquor on the banquet table. Mr. Bryan 
met the charge promptly, as he has met every 
question submitted to him. In a public speech he 
said: " The use of wine at the Lincoln banquet was 
abandoned for two reasons. First : Some of the 
expected guests were known to have a weakness 
for the flowing bowl which would result in their 
intoxication. Second : It was a question of hav- 
ing the banquet without wine or without women. 
Many of the guests at that banquet could do 
without wine, but none of them could do without 
the refining influence of woman, so wine was 
abandoned and woman triumphed. If this be 



84 BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 

treason, make the most of it." It is unnecessary 
to say that the Republicans were very ready to 
drop the Prohibition charge against Mr. Bryan. 

Mr. Bryan's committee challenged his opponent 
to joint debate. His opponent called a confer- 
ence of his friends, and Mr. Connell was urged 
to accept the challenge. He was assured that Mr. 
Bryan was a "one-speech man," and while Mr. 
Connell might be a little worse for the wear after 
the first meeting, he would grind his young 
opponent to powder in the subsequent contests. 
The Chairman of the Republican Congressional 
Committee struck upon a happy scheme of ob- 
taining expert opinion on this subject, and se- 
lected a committee of three young lawyers and 
charged them with the duty of listening to Mr. 
Bryan and informing his opponent as to whether 
the challenge to joint debate might be safely ac- 
cepted. These "experts" reported that Mr. 
Bryan was certainly a " one-speech man," and 
that his opponent would have easy sailing after 
the first week. 

A series of eleven meetings were arranged at 
different points in the district. The opening was 
had at Lincoln, Mr. Bryan's home. Three thou- 
sand people gathered to hear the orators and 
while Mr. Bryan electrified the gathering by his 
eloquence and his logic, the friends of Mr. Con- 
nell congratulated themselves and their candidate 
that he escaped the ordeal with breath in his 



BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 85 

body, and they promised that in the next meeting, 
in Omaha, there would be nothing left to tell the 
tale of the young candidate from Lincoln, 

One of the greatest gatherings that ever as- 
sembled, in the history of Omaha, attended the 
Bryan-Connell debate in that city. The audience 
was made up, for the most part, of the men one 
sees in courts, in business circles and among the 
manufactories. Mechanics from the shops, and 
attorneys fresh from conventions jostled one an- 
other. Capitalists were neighbors of laboring 
men, and the throbbing voice of the politician 
reached out to exercise itself. It was an interested 
and an interesting throng. Nobody was there 
to loiter ; one could readily see that by the atten- 
tion given to every minor preliminary detail. A 
few ladies enlivened the monotonous melaitge of 
men, but the masculine side had the majority so 
extensively that they quite overshadowed. By 
eight o'clock the house was without standing 
room, and 1500 people, it was estimated, were 
turned away from the door. Mr. Connell learned 
then that expert testimony may not always with 
safety be relied upon. He learned that his op- 
ponent was not a "one-speech man." He learned 
that he was an orator, eloquent and powerful, a 
logician strong and accurate, and that in repartee 
he was without a superior. In spite of the fact 
that Mr. Connell defended his cause better than 
any other man could have done, he was com- 



86 BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 

pletely overpowered by his young opponent. At 
the conclusion of the debate men climbed over 
one another to shake the hand of the young 
orator. Thousands of people vainly struggled to 
secure a foothold on the stage. From that mo- 
ment it was evident that the Republican candidate 
would be defeated, unless unusual efforts should 
be put forth. 

At subsequent appointments Mr. Bryan won 
similar triumphs. The people flocked from all 
parts of the State to hear the young orator and 
witness his magnificent victories. 

During the progress of these debates the 
Omaha World- Herald contained an editorial 
which is interesting at this time, not only because 
of its description of Bryan's marvellous power, 
but as well for it prophetic utterances. 

BRYAN ON THE STUMP. 

"It is very seldom in these days that oratory is 
met with, for the reason that oratory is something 
composed at once of eloquence, simplicity and 
magnetism, and that while eloquence and even 
magnetism are frequendy met with amono- 
Americans, simplicity is not. Mr. W. J. Bryan, 
the Democratic candidate for Congress from the 
First district, has this quality. He is, without 
doubt, one of the mo.t impressive men who have 
ever been on the western hustings. To begin 
with, he is no diplomat, a. id in one sense of the 



BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 87 

word he does not possess adroitness. That is, 
he appears to be doing nothing for effect. His 
remarks are direct. They are unqualified, and 
they always have the effect of being spontaneous. 

"He is not an apologetic speaker, but a com- 
manding one. He does not sue for attention. 
He takes it for granted that he will receive it. 
He delights in his audience, and inspires in them 
a sense of exhilaration such as he apparently 
feels himself He is enamored with his cause, 
and, believing fully in it, forces his listeners to do 
the same. So impregnated is he with the idea 
that his cause is righteous that he is without fear, 
relying on the truth to meet the subtlest argu- 
ment that may be adduced by his opponents. 
Then he has a pleasant wit, and even a spirit of 
mischief, and at times that broad and responsive 
smile points a paragraph as no spoken words can 
do, and lays his opponent open to the ridicule 
which Bryan himself refrains from inflicting. This 
quality is contagious. And it kills rancor. For 
it is impossible to feel any anger toward an adver- 
sary at whom one laughs. 

"Nature has gifted Mr. Bryan with a remark- 
able face — such a face as could be carved on a 
coin and not be out of place. He has a physical 
vigor which makes his unstudied gestures forcible 
and emphatic. He has an eye which is by turns 
commandingf and humorous. And he has a voice 
which is equally adapted to tenderness or to de- 



88 BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 

nunciation. All these natural gifts has William 
J. Bryan and to them is added a talent for re- 
search, a genius for accuracy, and a nature of 
truth. There are not many men cast in such 
mold in these days of sycophants, weaklings and 
time-servers. 

" Let Nebraska congratulate herself on the fact 
that she has an orator who possesses the physical 
and mental qualities to make him a remarkable man 
in the history of this nation. And if the World- 
Herald reads the stars aright, the time will come 
when W. J. Bryan will have a reputation which 
will reach far beyond Nebraska — and it will be a 
reputation for the performance of good and disin- 
terested deeds." 

Mr. Bryan's opponents circulated the charge 
that he belonged to an Anti-Catholic Society. A 
telegraphic inquiry brought this response : 

Weeping Water, Neb., October 18, 1890. 
To the Editor World- Her aid: 

" Your despatch just received. I belong to the 
Presbyterian Church, but do not belong to any 
Anti-Catholic Society. I respect every man's 
right to worship God according to his own con- 
science." W. J. Bryan. 

The Bryan-Connell debates were concluded at 
Syracuse. In spite of the pronounced victory of 
one of the participants, there had grown up be- 
tween the two contestants a strong personal 



BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 89 

friendship, which, by the way, has matured during- 
succeeding years. A great crowd had gathered 
to witness the closing scenes of that debate. 
Preparations had been made by the farmers of 
the vicinity to avail themselves of the opportunity 
to hear and see the acknowledged champion of 
their cause. Badges bearing Bryan's name were 
numerous among the throng. Cheer after cheer 
greeted his appearance. Hundreds flocked 
around to shake his hand and to assure him of 
their personal intention to vote for him. Special 
trains from the capital city brought down a throng 
of interested friends. In that debate, Mr. Bryan 
had the closing:, ^"^ when he had concluded his 
argument he turned to his opponent and presented 
him with a handsomely-bound volume of " Gray's 
Elegy" in the following words: 

" Mr. Connell, we now bring to a close this 
series of debates which was arranged by our com- 
mittees. I am glad that we have been able to 
conduct these discussions in a courteous and 
friendly manner". If I have, in any way, offended 
you in word or deed I offer apology and regret, 
and as freely forgive. I desire to present to you 
in remembrance of these pleasant meetings this 
little volume, because it contains "Gray's Elegy," 
in perusing which I trust you will find as much 
pleasure and profit as I have found. It is one of 
the most beautiful and touching tributes to hum- 
ble life that literature contains. Grand in its 



90 BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 

sentiment, sublime in its simplicity, we may both 
find in it a solace in victory or defeat. If success 
should crown your efforts in this campaign, and 
it should be your lot ' The applause of listening 
senates to command,' and I am left 

'A youth to fortune and to fame unknown,' 

" Forget not us who in the common walks of life 
perform our part, but in the hour of your triumph 
recall the verse : 

' Let not ambition mock their useful toil. 
Their homely joys and destiny obscure; 
Nor grandeur hear, with disdainful smile. 
The short and simple annals of the poor.* 

"If, on the other hand, by the verdict of my 
countrymen, I shall be made your successor, let 
it not be said of you : 

'And melancholy marked him for her own.' 

" But find sweet consolation in the thought : 

' Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 

The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear; 

Full many a flower was born to blush unseen, 

And waste its sweetness on the desert air. ' 

** But whether the palm of victory is given to you 
or to me, let us remember those of whom the poet 
says : 

' Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife 
Their sober wishes never learned to stray. 
Along the cool sequestered vales of life 

They keep the noiseless tenor of their way* 

These are the ones most likely to be forgotten by 
the Government. When the poor and weak cry 



BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 91 

out for relief they too often hear no answer but 
'the echo of their cry,' while the rich, the strong, 
the powerful are given an attentive ear. For this 
reason is class legislation dangerous and deadly. 
It takes from the least able to give to those who 
are least in need. The safety of our farmers and 
our laborers is not in special legislation, but in 
equal and just laws that bear alike on every man. 
The great masses of our people are interested, 
not in getting their hands into other people's 
pockets, but in keeping the hands of other people 
out of their pockets. Let me, in parting, express 
the hope that you and I may be instrumental in 
bringing our Government back to better laws 
which will treat every man in all our land without 
regard to creed or condition. I bid you a friendly 
farewell." 

Mr. Connell accepted the book, saying that it 
illustrated the bible truth, "It is more blessed to 
give than to receive," and he received it in the same 
friendly spirit in which it was given. Mr. Bryan 
then proposed three cheers for his opponent, "the 
able and gallant defender of a lost cause." Mr. 
Conndl returned the compliment. 

At this point a young man stepped out from 
the audience bearing two large floral designs. 
One was a great shield faced with Marcheil Neil 
roses of pure white, with a band of white carna- 
tions, on which was inscribed the word "Truth." 
The other floral design was a sword with a blade 



92 BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 

of white carnations with the word "Eloquence" 
in purple extending from hilt to point. The hilt 
was covered with red carnations all fringed with 
and set in a body of smilax. In presenting the 
floral tribute the young man said : "In behalf of 
the Democrats of the First district of Nebraska, 
I desire to say to Mr. Bryan that we have watched 
with interest your manly course and your courage 
upon eleven intellectual battlefields and I am 
commissioned by them to discharge the pleasant 
duty of presenting these two emblems. They 
show our respect, admiration and honor for the 
brightest and purest advocate of our cause in Ne- 
braska. I present this shield of truth as emblem- 
atic of that which has protected you through the 
series of debates from the arrows of your able 
adversary. I present this sword as indicative of 
the predominating faculty of your nature, that of 
eloquence. Accept them as a tribute from a loyal 
party to its bravest defender." And then as the 
emblems were handed to the young orator the 
vast audience stood up and waved handkerchiefs 
and hats and cheered until Mr. Bryan beckoned 
them to be still. He then gracefully responded, 
thanking his friends for their kindness, and when 
the great session was over 2, 500 people followed 
him to the train, giving him a royal ovation all 
along the line. 

Mr. Bryan closed his remarkable campaign at 
the city of Lincoln. He was elected by a plurality 




IToN. II. M. TELLER. 




Hon. KICHAED P. BLAND. 



BRYAN IN NEBRASKA 95 

of 6,700 in a district which two years before had 
given a Republican plurality of 3,400. It might 
be worthy of observation right here that Grover 
Cleveland's Secretary of Agriculture was defeated 
for Congress in 1888 by 3,400 plurality in the 
same district which William J. Bryan carried two 
years later by a plurality of 6,700. 

Following the election the Omaha World- Her aid 
editorially announced " Bryan is elected and he 
wins at the end of one of the fairest and most 
brilliant campaigns ever fought. He will become 
at once one of the most prominent members of 
the Lower House, from the West. His election is a 
triumph for principle and a victory for brains." 



CHAPTER IV. 
BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS. 

When Mr. Bryan entered Congress he imme- 
ciiately attracted attention, and his splendid per- 
sonahty drew men to him in Washington exactly 
as it had drawn men to him in Nebraska. Al- 
though it was unprecedented to give to a first- 
term member a position on the all-important 
Ways and Means Committee, Speaker Crisp 
conferred that unprecedented honor upon Bryan, 
of Nebraska. There was criticism at this excep- 
tion on the Speaker's part. The St. Louis Republic, 
commenting upon the: perso?ielle of it, said : "Wil- 
liam J. Bryan, of Nebraska, is a very amiable and 
a very enthusiastic young man \vho, it is said, has 
made some reputation on the stump out in Ne- 
braska; but, having no service in the House here- 
tofore, his knowledge of the details of the tariff 
is necessarily limited." But it was not long be- 
fore the St. Louis Republic, as well as all others 
who took the trouble to observe, learned that 
Bryan's knowledge of the tariff was about as 
complete as any man's could be. 

One of the first bills which Mr. Bryan intro- 
duced provided for the election of senators by 
the people, at the option of each State. The 

96 



BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 97 

people by constitutional enactment to provide the 
manner in which senators were to be chosen. 
The bill attracted considerable attention, although 
it failed of final passage. 

During Mr. Bryan's first session he received 
many invitations to address gatherings in the 
East. Among his first speeches of this character 
was one delivered before the Philadelphia Young 
Men's Association, where he responded to the 
toast, "The Democracy of the West," on Janu- 
ary 8, 1892. On that occasion he uttered these 
prophetic words : " Prosperity to the great West! 
Yesterday, the citadel of Republicanism ; to-day, 
the battle-ground of the nation ; to-morrow, and 
thereafter, the home of the Democracy." 

Mr. Bryan was one of the most active members 
of the Ways and Means Committee. Thomas B. 
Reed was a member of that committee, and he is 
exceedingly graceful at repartee. But Mr. Reed 
occasionally finds his match. An interesting inci- 
dent occurred at one meeting of the Ways and 
Means Committee at which Mr. Bryan neady 
turned the tables on Mr. Reed. The committee 
was in session when the bell rang indicating the 
convening of the House. Mr. Reed arose pon- 
derously from his seat and making an elaborate 
bow to the committee, the majority of which, by 
the way, were Democrats, expressed his regret at 
being compelled to desert his colleagues in order 
to take his seat in the House to listen to the 



98 BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 

chaplain's prayer. ** I trust" said he, with a touch 
of sarcasm, "that I do not break the committee 
quorum." "Oh, do not worry about that," quickly 
retorted Mr. Bryan. "You can leave your hat 
here and we will count it to make the quorum." 
Chairman Springer's dignity was quite upset by 
the roar of laughter which greeted this sally, and 
Mr. Reed, very red in the face but chuckling, 
made his way to the House. 

On March i6, 1892 Mr. Bryan made his great 
tariff speech in the House. And by that strong 
and eloquent speech he made himself a national 
figure. It will be many a day before such a 
scene is re-enacted. At 2.30 o'clock Bryan arose 
to address the House on the tariff question, and 
at 5.30 closed a speech which will stand con- 
spicuously in the recollections of thousands of 
representatives. It was such a speech as no one 
there expected, but just such a speech as Bryan's 
friends knew he would deliver. Hardly that 
either, for Bryan, with all his good record on the 
stump, never before delivered such a masterly 
combination of argument and rhetoric. No 
speech delivered in the House attracted one- 
tenth of the interest, either on the floor or in the 
gallery. No speech delivered in any recent Con- 
gress awoke so much comment. For three full 
hours the members on the floor and great crowds 
in the gallery listened intently to every word, and 
at the close of the speech tendered the young 



BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 99 

orator an ovation. When Bryan closed, the 
Democratic members arose en masse, even before 
the House had adjourned, and rushed around 
the young exponent of tariff reform, each running 
over the other to shake his hand. From every 
gallery and from every quarter came exclama- 
tions of admiration. From the people as they 
crowded each other from the gallery, came con- 
tinued and earnest expressions complimentary to 
the gentleman from Nebraska, and after the 
House had adjourned, great crowds stood at the 
doorways eager to catch a glimpse of the new 
orator. 

When the doors were opened many filed 
through, and a long line passed Bryan, each man 
taking him by the hand and congratulating him. 
It was a long time before Bryan, weary with his 
great effort, could tear himself away and find 
refuge in the committee-room. 

Those who have attended regularly the con- 
gressional sessions for years declared that at no 
time could they remember when a speech re- 
ceived such generous attention and a speaker 
such a splendid ovation. It was a great audience, 
and it grew as Bryan proceeded with his speech. 
Within an hour the galleries were packed and 
crowded with people whose interest was clearly 
manifested. As a rule, members sleep or attend 
to their correspondence while a tariff speech is 
being made ; but not so in this instance. Every- 



loo BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 

body woke up. Even the press gallery was 
crowded, and when this is the case the attraction 
must be great. 

Early in the afternoon two women sat in the 
gallery adjoining the press. One of these turned 
to the other and asked: "Who speaks on the 
tariff to-day?" 

" Bryan, of Nebraska," was the reply. 

"Umph, I never heard of him," said the first 
woman. 

" This is his first term," said the second woman. 
"But I have Republican friends in .Nebraska who 
pay that Mr. Bryan thinks he can make a speech. 
I've come to see." 

And these women sat there. Both were in- 
terested listeners to the speech, and when Mr. 
Bryan had finished, C. W. Sherman, Editor of 
the Plattsmouth, Neb. Journal, climbed over the 
gallery seats, and, touching the second woman 
on the arm, said : " Beg pardon, madam, but can 
you tell me who that was who spoke ? " 

"That, sir," replied the woman, "is Mr. Bryan, 
of Nebraska, and he has made a good speech, a 
very good speech, indeed." Then turning to her 
lady friend, the woman remarked : " I shall tell 
my Nebraska friends that I quite agree with Mr. 
Bryan. I, too, think he can make a speech." 

Early in the afternoon a man who had fooled 
the people of Massachusetts in sending him to 
Congress twice, slapped another member on the 



BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS loi 

shoulder at the House entrance and said : "Come 
in ; a new member is going to speak. Let's go 
in and see our boys have fun with him." 

They went in ; they saw the fun; but they were 
mistaken in the victim. "Our boys" started to 
have their usual amount of fun, but they were 
glad to retire into the corridor. For a long time 
Mr. Bryan proceeded without interruption. Then 
there was a whispered consultation among the 
Republican leaders, and one by one questions 
were fired at the Nebraskan. In each and every 
instance Bryan's retort brought him out on top. 
Of the probable fifty interruptions to which he was 
subjected his quick wit and ready logic were 
brought into play in such a manner as to win the 
respect of the members and stir up the enthusiasm 
of the galleries. 

Not once did the interest decrease. At 3.30 
when the time had expired, unanimous consent 
was given to prolong the treat. Several times 
when the speaker essayed to close his address he 
was urged by his colleagues on the floor to con- 
tinue. It was an off-hand speech. It could not 
have been otherwise under the circumstances. It 
was replete with the argument for tariff reform, 
and the points made by the speaker were illus- 
trated by new and charming features, which 
brought down the House. The peroration was 
superb, and when he said that time would come 
when legislation would be enacted exclusively in 



102 BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 

the people's interest and declared •' in that day 
Democracy will be king — long live the king! " it 
was with an eloquence that proved a fitting cli- 
max. Then from every corner of the great room 
from floor to gallery came demonstrations of ap- 
plause, while the novel sight was witnessed of 
over 200 members rushing around a colleague to 
show their appreciation of real ability. 

Kilgore, of Texas, as he took Bryan's hand, 
declared : "This is the first time I ever left my 
seat to congratulate a member; but it is the first 
time I ever had such great cause to break the 
record." 

Burrows, of Michigan, said : " I am free to say 
that Bryan made the best tariff-reform speech I 
ever heard." 

Beside the Congressman sat his pretty little 
daughter, Ruth. Mrs. Bryan was in the gallery, 
and it would be strange if she were not at that 
moment the proudest woman in the world. It was, 
too, a proud moment for the several Nebraskans 
there. Editor Sherman, of Plattsmouth, repre- 
sented the sentiment of all. In the corridor the 
great crowd was waiting to catch a glimpse of 
the orator of the day. Somebody asked : 

" How old is Bryan ? " 

" Thirty-five,"replied Sherman. 

"Well, he has certainly a future before him," 
said the first speaker. 

" It's the best speech I ever heard in the House," 
said another. 



BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 103 

When several similar compliments had been 
uttered, Sherman held his head a little bit higher 
as he declared : 

"Gentlemen, I live in Nebraska. We have 
wanted a man to send to Congress and we sent 
him. I want to tell you now, that when Nebraska 
Democrats pick out a man as worthy to represent 
them here they know what they are doing." 

"You certainly made no mistake this time," 
said a by-stander. 

The great newspapers of the country were full 
of compliments for "the new orator." Bryan be- 
came famous in a day. 

The New York World had the following head- 
lines : — 

" Bryan Downed Them All." 

"Nebraska's Young Congressman Scores a 
Triumph in the House." 

" His Maiden Speech a Brilliant Plea for Tariff 
Reform." 

"Mr. Raines, of New York, and Messrs. Mc- 
Kenna and Lind Interrupt Him with Questions 
and are Silenced by Sharp Replies." 

" Party Leaders Enthusiastically Applaud the 
Orator, and His Speech is the Talk of Wash- 
ington." 

Then the World ^2a^ : "When Speaker Crisp 
appointed Mr. Bryan, of Nebraska, one of the 
committee on Ways and Means, some criticism 
was made on the ground that he was a new 



104 BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 

member and inexperienced in tariff legislation. 
But Mr. Bryan, to-day, in a three-hours' speech, 
made the biggest hit of the debate and confirmed 
the Speaker's judgment of his ability. No more 
dramatic speech has been delivered at this ses- 
sion. Mr. Bryan has the clear-cut features of the 
Randall type. He spoke without notes, and his 
barytone voice made the chamber ring. The Re- 
publicans sought to take advantage of his inex- 
perience in Congress by interrupting him with 
questions, which would have puzzled much older 
heads. But Mr. Bryan brightened under this 
friction and forced one Republican after another 
into his seat. Old campaigners of the Reed 
school, like Raines, of New York, and McKenna, 
of California, found the young Nebraskan more 
than their match. A lawyer by profession, Mr. 
Bryan argued his case with a direct dramatic 
directness that aroused not only the enthusiasm of 
the Democrats, but won the applause of the gal- 
leries. 

" When Mr. Bryan finished, the galleries ap- 
plauded for fully five minutes, and Democrats 
and Republicans gathered about him and shook 
his hand warmly. This speech has been a revo- 
lution. No new member has received such an 
ovation in years. Mr. Bryan's speech was the 
talk of the town to-night." 

The Washington Post said: "If, like Byron, 
Congressman Bryan, of Nebraska, does not wake 



BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 105 

this morning and find himself famous, then all the 
eulogies that were being passed on him in hotel 
corridors were meaningless. There was hardly 
anything else talked about, except the wonder- 
fully brilliant speech of the young Nebraskan of 
the House." 

The New York Sun said: "William Jen- 
nings Bryan, the young Democratic leader from 
Nebraska, whom Speaker Crisp placed on the 
Ways and Means Committee against the protest of 
a large element in the House, distinguished him- 
self to-day by making the ' star ' speech of the 
present session on the tariff question. Mr. 
Bryan astonished his associates and the occupants 
of the crowded galleries by an exhibition of 
finished oratory seldom witnessed in the halls of 
Congress. He is only thirty years old, is tall and 
well built, with a clean-shaven face and jet black 
hair. Charley O'Neil, the father of the House, 
as he is called, says Mr. Bryan looks something 
as the late Samuel Jackson Randall looked twenty- 
five years ago. An hour was given Mr, Bryan 
to speak, but when that time elapsed there was a 
general chorus of 'Go on,' 'Go on,' from both 
sides of the House. Members lingered in their 
seats and the spectators remained in the galleries 
till 5.12 o'clock, so intent were they in hearing 
the young orator from the West. Not only was 
he logical, but he was practical, and won for him- 
self a place among the house orators beside the 



io6 BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 

silver-toned Breckinridge of Kentucky, or the 
calm-voiced Henderson of Iowa." 

The New York Herald said : "As Mr. Bryan 
took his seat he was the recipient of hearty con- 
gratulations from his party colleagues. Although 
this was his maiden speech, he showed every 
quality of a fine orator. No member who has 
addressed the House thus far upon the tariff 
question has received the same attention which 
was accorded to the young Nebraskan." 

The New York Times had this to-day: "For 
most of the time since the tariff battle in the 
House began the Democrats have been attacking 
the Republicans' position largely with oratorical 
fire crackers. Some of these explosives made a 
merry crackling, but not enough of it fully to 
wake up the deliberate body, and certainly not 
enough fully to arrest the attention of many per- 
sons out of the House. To-day, almost with the 
effect of an ambuscade, the Democrats uncovered 
a ten-inch gun, and for two hours shelled the 
surprised enemy so effectively, that the protec- 
tionist batteries, at first manned with spirit, but 
supplied with very light guns, were silenced. Gun- 
ner Raines (Republican, New York), coming out 
of the engagement with a badly-battered muzzle, 
and with the conviction, probably, that he would be 
compelled next time to put in more powder and 
employ newer and more modern projectiles. 

"The man who to-day ceased to be a new and 



BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 107 

young unknown member, and jumpea at once 
into the position of the best tariff speaker in ten 
years was Representative Bryan, Democrat, of 
Nebraska. To be a representative from Nebraska 
implies a condition of revolution in that State; but 
it also means something more in the case of Mr. 
Bryan that was not suspected before by those who 
are not familiar with his reputation at home. 
Some of the men who supported Mills were in 
doubt at the time of the caucus about his sound- 
ness generally, as he was one of the four Springer 
men who stuck to Springer after ' the last button 
was off his coat,' and when the votes of the four 
would have elected Mills instead of Crisp. After 
his speech of to-day there can be no doubt about 
where he stands on the tariff question. There can 
be no doubt about this power of oratory and argu- 
ment, and Mr. Raines, who is apt at a certain shal- 
low sort of sophistical cross-questioning, will prob- 
ably admit that Mr. Bryan is able to hold his own 
with a veteran in the black-horse cavalry. For two 
hours and a half Mr. Bryan held the floor and his 
audience, being urged to go on after his hour had 
expired, and being inspired to still further continue 
by shouts of 'Go on,' 'Go on,' when he indica- 
ted a modest desire to bring his long speech to a 
close. 

" Having a graceful figure, a Htde above the 
average height, Mr. Bryan is not unlike Carlisle 
in feature, but not so spare. His face is smooth 



io8 BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 

shaved and the features are strong and well 
marked. His voice is clear and strong, his lan- 
guage plain but not lacking in grace. He uses 
illustrations effectively, and he employs humor 
and sarcasm with admirable facility. The applause 
that greeted him was as spontaneous as it was 
genuine." 

On April 5, 1892, Mr. Springer, Chairman of 
the Ways and Means Committee, was to address 
the House on the tariff bill. Mr. Springer had 
been seriously ill and was admonished by his 
physician not to make the effort. He came to 
the House on that day, however, and paid Mr. 
Bryan the compliment of inviting him to read his, 
Mr. Springer's, address on the tariff question. 

In the spring of 1892, evidences of the hostile 
silver sentiment had begun to manifest themselves 
among certain leaders of the Nebraska Democ- 
racy. The State Convention to elect delegates 
to the National Democratic Convention had been 
called for April 15, 1892. Mr. Bryan announced 
from Washington that he would attend that con- 
vention for the purpose of introducing a free-silver 
plank into the platform. It was evident that this 
act would create considerable trouble, and Mr. 
Bryan was urged by many Democrats not to do 
it. He refused to be dissuaded, however, from 
what he regarded as his plain duty, when he went 
to Omaha. That convention marked the begin, 
ning of Bryan's determined efforts to place the 



BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS too 

Nebraska Democracy right on the money question. 
He introduced his plank favoring the free coinage 
of silver and was opposed by most of the old-time 
leaders of the party in Nebraska. It was a bitter 
contest. Bryan presented his cause with that 
eloquence and spirit that has made him famous ; 
and during the entire day the battle raged. In 
speaking upon this plank, Mr. Bryan said among 
other things : 

" I am here on a painful duty. I came to agree 
with all that has been said and to ask the adoption 
of the principle which has been a part of our 
platform heretofore, and I do not believe it is 
good policy to drop now as a Democratic tenet. 

"Gentlemen," said Mr. Bryan, "I do not believe 
it is noble to dodge any issue. It was dodging 
that defeated Republicanism in Nebraska. If, as 
has been indicated, this may have an effect on my 
campaign, then no bridegroom went with gladder 
heart to greet his bride than I shall welcome de- 
feat. It has been said that God hates a coward, 
and I beUeve it is true. Vote this down if you 
do not approve it, but do not dodge it, for that is 
not democratic." 

The first vote on Bryan's minority report was 
announced: 267 for, 237 against. It was a clean- 
cut victory for bimetallism. 

And that convention went mad — absolutely in- 
sane. Mr. Bryan tried to soothe things. It was im- 
possible. At last it was decided to call another vote. 



no BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 

Governor Boyd opposed a recount. Con- 
gressman Bryan asked for it, and the Chairman, 
who had already proposed it, found a sentiment 
almost unanimous in favor of it. 

The recount was taken amid much excitement, 
and the Chairman finally announced its result : 

" Two hundred and twenty-nine, yes." 

"Two hundred and forty-seven, no." 

The majority report on platform was then duly 
adopted and the rejected free-silver plank laid 
carefully aside. 

But Bryan's silver plank had been "counted 
out." 

From that moment Mr. Bryan had incurred the 
hostility of the Cleveland administration, and 
from that moment that administradon showed 
him no mercy, and no quarter. But it was 
characteristic of Mr. Bryan that he asked no 
mercy and accepted no quarter. 

On June 17, 1892, Mr. Bryan addressed the 
students of Ann Harbor, in reply to a speech 
made there by Mr. McKinley, one month previ- 
ous. The question was the tariff, and it was 
generally conceded that Mr. Bryan's effort more 
than matched that of his distinguished opponent. 

On June 20, 1892, at Nebraska City, Mr. 
Bryan was re-nominated for Congress by accla- 
mation. 

Mr. Bryan's platform on that occasion de- 
nounced " unjust tariff laws and oppressive finan- 



Hox. JOHN. W. DANIEL. 




Hon. J. C. S. BLACKBURN. 



BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 113 

cial policy ;" declared for tariff for revenue only ; 
favored an income tax ; condemned bounties and 
subsidies of every kind ; declared in favor of the 
double standard of gold and silver money ; de- 
nounced the demonetization of silver in 1873; 
advocated the re-establishment of silver to its 
honored place of free coinage, occupied by it 
from the beginning of the Government up to 1873. 
That platform favored the election of senators by 
the people ; favored liberal pensions to disabled 
veterans ; reiterated the plank in the platform on 
which Mr. Bryan was first nominated, that plank 
opposing caucus dictation. 

In the meantime the Legislature had re-dis- 
tricted the congressional districts of the State. 
Omaha was taken out of Bryan's district and his 
new district was so arranged that under ordinary 
circumstances the Republicans would have an 
overwhelming majority. It was believed by Re- 
publican leaders that with this re-apportionment, 
Bryan's defeat could be accomplished. 

The Republican party nominated Allen W. 
Field, then Judge of the District Court, and a 
resident of the city of Lincoln. ] 

A series of debates were arranged between the 
contestants. This was probably the most intere::Jt- 
ing series of debates in the history of Nebraska. 
Although Mr. Field was a strong man and de- 
fended his cause well, the contest was one trium 
phal march for Bryan. At every meeting place 



114 BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 

people went wild in their demonstrations in behalf 
of the young orator. At Auburn, for instance, 
when the contest was concluded a crowd of Re- 
publicans rushed to the platform to shake Mr. 
Field's hand. And they shook it heartily. But 
right here is where the differenee was to be 
noticed. The crowd around Mr. Field numbered 
perhaps fifty men. At the front of the platform 
a great scene was being enacted. There was 
Bryan stooping with outstretched hands to grasp 
the hands of at least 2,000 people who were 
crowding over each other to greet him. The 
farmers and their wives, the laborers and their 
sisters and their cousins and their aunts all pressed 
forward to shake the hand of the man who will 
succeed himself as their representative. Children 
were raised up to clasp the hand of the man, who, 
by his great ability and courage, had become en- 
shrined in the hearts of the masses in his district. 
It was a glorious reception to a pubhc servant. 

At Nebraska City 5,000 people had assembled 
on the Court House Square to hear the debate. 
Bryan's close was a mighty speech. It was as 
clean cut a talk as was ever heard. When he 
concluded, the greatest demonstration ever wit- 
nessed in Nebraska was seen. The audience 
seemed to rise en masse and rush to the platform. 
The great scene enacted at Auburn was repeated, 
only it was nine times greater. Farmers and 
laboring men cheered themselves hoarse. Half 



BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 115 

a hundred women stood upon chairs and waved 
their handkerchiefs. Three cheers were given 
Bryan and repeated fifty times. For half an hour 
he stood on the platform and shook hands with 
his delighted constituents. 

The people refused to leave the grounds until, 
weary and exhausted, Mr. Bryan left the place, 
followed by a great crowd of people. The scenes 
were simply indescribable. It was the best 
ovation ever received ; the greatest triumph ever 
won by a public man. The scene will never be 
forgotten in Nebraska City and must long be re- 
membered by Bryan as among the most valuable 
tributes in his career. A great crowd followed 
Bryan to his hotel, cheering him all the way. 

At Weeping Water, when Bryan closed, the 
scene in Nebraska City was in part repeated. In 
this instance probably fifty people came forward 
to shake Mr. Field by the hand, but it seemed 
that the entire audience arose to greet Mr. Bryan. 
The town people and the farmers crowded over 
each other to shake the young congressman's 
hand. At first Bryan stood upon the platform, 
and bending down grasped the many hundreds 
of hands advanced to him. 

But the great throng of his admirers increased 
and the young orator was literally dragged from 
the platform and for thirty yards he was crowded 
here and there, surged by the crowd, every mem- 
ber of which seemed anxious to shake his hand. 



ii6 BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 

The ovation extended to Bryan was so marked 
that many deeply sympathized with Mr. Field. At 
every step from the grove Bryan was heartily 
cheered, and though this was a Republican pre- 
cinct Bryan fairly captured everything in sight. 
At the start the crowd seemed to be against 
Bryan. At the close of the debate Bryan owned 
the earth, and had he desired a fence to be built 
around it, it was but necessary for him to say the 
word. 

At all other points similar scenes were enacted. 
At the city of Lincoln, October 12, 1892, Bryan 
won another distinct triumph, and at the close of 
the debate a handful of people grasped the hand 
of Judge Field, but it required half an hour for 
Bryan to half complete the task of greeting his 
friends. A handsome floral piece was on the 
stand, the design being a pair of scales. It was 
the tribute of the young congressman's Lincoln 
friends. 

The closing session of the debate was an over- 
whelming triumph for Bryan, in perfect keeping 
with his splendid victory in every previous meet- 
ing with his opponent. 

The Republicans made desperate efforts to ac- 
complish Bryan's defeat. Speakers of national 
renown poured into the district and large sums of 
money were expended against Bryan in all coun- 
ties in the district. But in spite of all these 
efforts in the district, which had been arranged to 



BRYAN ENTERS CONGRESS 117 

give a Republican candidate from 4,000 to 5,000 
majority, Mr. Bryan was re-elected by a majority 
of 152. 

Commenting upon this triumph the Omaha 
World-Herald said editorially : — 

"The more one thinks of Bryan's re-election 
the more wonderful it seems. 

" In the face of overwhelming opposition, which 
was aided by such speakers as McKinley, For- 
aker and Thurston ; in spite of a district, not one 
county of which was or went Democratic — a dis- 
trict in which Harrison had more votes than 
Cleveland and Weaver combined, and which was 
on a congressional fight several thousand Repub- 
lican ; in spite of boodle freely spent by the Re- 
publicans, and in spite of a third candidate run- 
ning as a decoy duck for his principal opponent, 
Bryan is a victor by a majority of 140. 

•* He deserved and got the votes of both Inde- 
pendents and Republicans, and his election is a 
splendid tribute to the qualities which caused his 
selection both times for congressional honors, and 
which in one Washington session made him the 
most prominent man on the floor of the House 
of Representatives. 

"Looking over the whole November fight, there 
is no more remarkable or brilliant victory than 
that won in the First Nebraska District." 



CHAPTER V. 
BRYAN AS " BLAND'S LIEUTENANT." 

When Mr. Bryan entered upon his second term 
in Congress the money question had come to be 
recognized generally as the great question of the 
day. It was known that the Hon. Richard P. 
Bland, of Missouri, who for twenty years had 
fought the battles of bimetallism, would lead the 
fight in the then coming contest. It was also an- 
nounced that Mr. Bryan would be one of Mr. 
Bland's lieutenants. 

Mr. Bryan was a delegate to the National Silver 
Conference, held in Chicago, August i, 1893, and 
addressed that gathering August 16, 1893. 

Mr, Bryan addressed the House in opposition 
to the bill to repeal the purchasing clause of the 
Sherman Act. From that great speech, which 
was recogfnized as one of the strongest ever de- 
livered in the House, the following extracts are 
taken : 

" Mr. Speaker : I shall accomplish my full pur- 
pose if I am able to impress upon the members 
of the House the far-reaching consequences which 
may follow our action and quicken their apprecia- 
tion of the grave responsibility which presses upon 

118 



BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 119 

us. Historians tell us that the victory of Charles 
Martel at Tours determined the history of all 
Europe for centuries. It was a contest * between 
the Crescent and the Cross,' and when, on that 
fateful day, the Prankish prince drove back the 
followers of Abderrahman, he rescued the West 
from 'the all-destroying grasp of Islam,' and 
saved Europe its Christian civilization. A greater 
than Tours is here ! In my humble judgment the 
vote of this House on the subject under consid- 
eration may bring to the people of the West and 
South, to the people of the United States, and to 
all mankind, weal or woe beyond the power of 
language to describe or imagination to con- 
ceive. 

" In the princely palace and in the humblest 
hamlet ; by the financier and by the poorest toiler; 
here, in Europe and everywhere, the proceedings 
of this Congress upon this problem will be read 
and studied; and as our actions bless or blight 
we shall be commended or condemned. * * 

" Rollin tells us that the third Punic war was 
declared by the Romans and that a messenger 
was sent to Carthage to announce the declaration 
after the army had started on its way. The Car- 
thaginians at once sent representatives to treat 
for peace. The Romans first demanded the de- 
livery of three hundred hostages before they 
would enter into negotiations. When three hun- 
dred sons of the nobles had been given into theit- 



I20 BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 

hands they demanded the surrender of all the 
arms and implements of war before announcing 
the terms of the treaty. The conditions were 
sorrowfully but promptly complied with, and the 
people who boasted of a Hannibal and Hamilcar 
gave up to their ancient enemies every weapon of 
offense and defense. Then the Roman consul, 
rising up before the humiliated representatives of 
Carthage, said : 

" ' I cannot but commend you for the readiness 
with which you have obeyed every order. The 
decree of the Roman Senate is that Carthage 
shall be destroyed.' 

" Sirs, what will be the answer of the people 
whom you represent, who are wedded to the ' gold 
and silver coinage of the Constitution,' if you vote 
for unconditional repeal and return to tell them 
that you were commended for the readiness with 
which you obeyed every order, but that Congress 
has decreed that one-half of the people's metallic 
money shall be destroyed? [Applause.] 

"They demand unconditional surrender, do 
they ? Why, sirs, we are the ones to grant terms. 
Standing by the pledges of all the parties in this 
country, backed by the history of a hundred 
years, sustained by the most sacred interests of 
humanity itself, we demand an unconditional sur- 
render of the principle of gold monometallism as 
the first condition of peace. [Applause.] You 
demand surrender ! Ay, sirs, you may cry ' Peace, 



BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 121 

peace/ but there is no peace. Just so long as 
there are people here who would chain this country 
to a sinorle orold standard, there is war — eternal 
war; and it might just as well be known now! 
[Loud applause on the Democratic side.] I have 
said that we stand by the pledges of all platforms. 
Let me quote them : 

" The Populist platform adopted by the national 
convention in 1892 contained these words: 

" ' We demand free and unlimited coinage of sil- 
ver and gold at the present legal ratio of 16 to i.' 

"As the members of that party, both in the 
Senate and in the House, stand ready to carry 
out the pledge there made, no appeal to them is 
necessary. 

"The Republican national platform adopted in 
1888 contains this plank: 

" ' The Republican party is in favor of the use of 
both gold and silver as money and condemns the 
policy of the Democratic administration in its ef- 
fort to demonetize silver.' 

"The same party in 1892 adopted a platform 
containing the following language : 

" ' The American people from tradition and in- 
terest favor bimetallism, and the Republican party 
demands the use of both gold and silver as stand- 
ard money, such restrictions to be determined 
by contemplation of values of the two metals, so 
that the purchasing and debt-paying power of the 



122 BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 

dollar, whether of silver, gold, or paper, shall be 
equal at all times. 

" • The interests of the producers of the country, 
its farmers and its workingmen, demand that every 
dollar, paper or gold, issued by the Government, 
shall be as good as any other. We commend the 
wise and patriotic steps already taken by our 
Government to secure an international parity of 
value between gold and silver for use as money 
throughout the world.' 

"Are the Republican members of this House 
ready to abandon the system which the American 
people favor ' from tradition and interest ? ' Hav- 
ing won a Presidential election upon a platform 
which condemned ' the policy of the Democratic 
administration in its efforts to demonetize silver,' 
are they ready to join in that demonetization ? 
Having advocated the Sherman law because it 
gave an increased use of silver, are they ready to 
repeal it and make no provisions for silver at 
all ? Are they willing to go before the country 
confessing that they secured the present law by 
sharp practice, and only adopted it as an ingenious 
device for preventing free coinage, to be repealed 
as soon as the hour of danger was passed? 

"The Democratic platform of 1880 contained 
these words : 

"'Honest money, consisting of gold and silver, 
and paper convertible into coin on demand.' 

"It would seem that at that time silver was hon- 



BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 123 

est money, although the bullion value was con- 
siderably below the coinage value. 

"In 1884 the Democratic platform contained 
this plank : 

" ' We believe in honest money, the gold and 
silver coinage of the Constitution, and a circu- 
ating medium convertible into such money with- 
out loss.' 

" It would seem that at thai time silver was con- 
sidered honest money. 

"In 1888 the Democratic party did not express 
itself on the money question except by saying: 

" ' It renewed the pledge of its fidelity to Demo- 
cratic faith, and reaffirms the platform adopted by 
its representatives in the convention of 1884.' 

" Since the platform of 1 884 commended silver as 
an honest money, we must assume that the re- 
affirming of that platform declared anew that 
silver was honest money as late as 1888, althougn 
at that time its bullion value had fallen still more. 

"The last utterance of a Democratic nati ■)nal 
convention upon this subject is contained in the 
platform adopted at Chicago in 1892. It is as 
follows : 

" ' We denounce the Republican legislation known 
as the Sherman act of 1890 as a cowardly make- 
shift, fraught with possibilities of danger in the 
future, which should make all of its supporters, as 
well as its author, anxious for its speedy repeal. 
We hold to the use of both crold and silver as 



124 BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 

the standard money of the country, and to the 
coinage of both gold and silver without discrimi- 
nation against either metal or charge for mintage, 
but the dollar unit of coinage of both metals must 
be of equal intrinsic and exchangeable value or be 
adjusted through international agreement, or by 
such safeguards of legislation as shall insure the 
maintenance of the parity of the two metals, and 
the equal power of every dollar at all times in the 
markets and in the payment of debts ; and we 
demand that all paper currency shall be kept at 
par with and redeemable in such coin. We insist 
upon this policy as especially necessary for the 
protection of the farmers and laboring classes, the 
first and most defenseless victims of unstable 
money and a fluctuating currency.' 

" Thus it will be seen that gold and silver have 
been indissolubly linked together in our platforms. 
Never in the history of the party has it taken a 
position in favor of a gold standard. On every 
vote taken in the House and Senate a majority 
of the party have been recorded not only in favor 
of bimetallism, but for the free and unlimited 
coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of i6 to i. 

" The last platform pledges us to the use of both 
metals as standard money and to the free coinage 
of both metals at a fixed ratio. Does any one be- 
lieve that Mr. Cleveland could have been elected 
President upon a platform declaring in favor of 
the unconditional repeal of the Sherman law? 



BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 125 

Can we go back to our people and tell them that, 
after denouncing for twenty years the crime of 
^^73^ we have at last accepted it as a blessing? 
Shall bimetallism receive its deathblow in the 
house of its friends, and in the very hall where 
innumerable vows have been registered in its de- 
fense? What faith can be placed in platforms if 
their pledges can be violated with impunity? Is 
it right to rise above the power which created us ? 
Is it patriotic to refuse that legislation in favor of 
gold and silver which a majority of the people 
have always demanded ? Is it necessary to betray 
all pardes in order to treat this subject in a ' non- 
partisan ' way ? 

" The President has recommended unconditional 
repeal. It is not sufficient to say that he is honest 
— so were the mothers, who, with misguided zeal, 
threw their children into the Ganges. The ques- 
tion is not "Is he honest?" but "Is he riorht?" 

o 

He won the confidence of the toilers of this coun- 
try because he taught that ' public office is a 
public trust,' and because he convinced them of 
his courage and his sincerity. But are they will- 
ing to say, in the language of Job, 'Though He 
slay me, yet will I trust Him?' Whence comes 
this irresistible demand for unconditional repeal? 
Are not the representadves here as near to the 
people and as apt to know their wishes ? Whence 
comes the demand ? Not from the workshop and 
the farm, not from the workingmen of this country, 



126 BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 

who create its wealth in time of peace and protect 
its flag in time of war, but from the middlemen, 
from what are termed the 'business interests,' 
and largely from that class which can force Con- 
gress to let it issue money at a pecuniary profit to 
itself if silver is abandoned. The President has 
been deceived. He can no more judge the wishes 
of the great mass of our people by the expressions 
of these men than he can measure the ocean's 
silent depths by the foam upon its waves. 

" Mr. Powderly, who spoke at Chicago a few 
days ago in favor of the free coinage of silver at 
the present ratio and against the unconditional 
repeal of the Sherman law, voiced the sentiment 
of more laboring men than have ever addressed 
the President or this House in favor of repeal. 
Go among the agricultural classes ; go among the 
poor, whose litde is as precious to them as the 
rich man's fortune is to him, and whose families 
are as dear, and you will not find the haste to 
destroy the issue of money or the unfriendliness 
to silver which is manifested in money centers. 

" This question can not be settled by typewritten 
recommendations and suggestions made by boards 
of trade and sent broadcast over the United 
States. It can only be settled by the great mass 
of the voters of this country who stand like the 
Rock of Gibraltar for the use of both gold and 
silver. (Applause.) 



BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 127 

" There are thousands, yes, tens of thousands, 
aye, even millions, who have not yet ' bowed the 
knee to Baal,' Let the President take courage. 
Muehlbach relates an incident in the life of the 
great military hero of France. At Marengo the 
Man of Destiny, sad and disheartened, thought the 
battle lost. He called to a drummer boy and 
ordered him to beat a retreat. The lad replied : 

" ' Sire, I do not know how : Dessaix has never 
taught me retreat, but I can beat a charge. Oh, 
I can beat a charge that would make the dead fall 
into line ! I beat that charo^e at the Bridore of 
Lodi ; 1 beat it at Mount Tabor; I beat it at the 
Pyramids. Oh, may I beat it here ? ' 

" The charge was ordered, the battle won, and 
Marengo was added to the victories of Napoleon. 
Oh, let our gallant leader draw inspiration from 
the street gamin of Paris. In the face of an enemy 
proud and confident the President has wavered. 
Engaged in the battle royal between the ' money 
power and the common people ' he has ordered a 
retreat. Let him not be dismayed. 

" He has won greater victories than Napoleon, 
for he is a warrior who has conquered without a 
sword. He restored fidelity in the public service ; 
he converted Democratic hope into realization ; 
he took up the banner of tariff reform and carried 
it to triumph. Let him continue that greater fight 
for the 'gold and silver coinage of the Constitu- 
tion,' to which three national platforms have 



128 BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 

pledged him. Let his clarion voice call the party 
hosts to arms ; let him but speak the language of 
the Senator from Texas, in reply to those who 
would destroy the use of silver: 

" 'In this hour fraught with peril to the whole 
country, I appeal to the unpurchased representa- 
^ tives of the American people to meet this bold 
I and insolent demand like men. Let us stand in 
tlie breach and call the battle on and never leave 
the field until the people's money shall be restored 
to the mints on equal terms with gold, as it was 
years ago.' 

"Let this command be given, and the air will 
resound with the tramp of men scarred in a score 
of battles for the people's rights. Let this com- 
mand be given and this Marengo will be our 
glory and not our shame. [Applause on the 
floor and in the galleries.] 

" Well has it been said by the Senator from 
Missouri [Mr. Vest] that we have come to the 
parting of the ways. To-day the Democratic 
party stands between two great forces, each in- 
viting its support. On the one side stand the 
corporate interests of the nation, its moneyed in- 
stitutions, its aggregations of wealth and capital, 
imperious, arrogant, compass4onless. They de- 
mand special legislation, favors, privileges and 
immunities. They can subscribe magnificently to 
campaign funds ; they can strike down opposition 
with their all-pervading influence, and, to those 




Hon. JAS. K. JONES. 




Hon. F. M. COCKRELU 



BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 131 

who fawn and flatter, bring- ease and plenty. 
They demand that the Democratic party shall be- 
come their ag^ent to execute their merciless de- 
crees. 

" On the other side stands that unnumbered 
thronor which orave a name to the Democratic 
party and for which it has assumed to speak. 
Work-worn and dust-begrimed, they make their 
sad appeal. They hear of average wealth in- 
creased on every side andy^<?/ the inequality of its 
distribution. They see an over-production of 
everything desired, because of the under-produc- 
tion of the ability to buy. They can not pay for 
loyalty except with their suffrages, and can only 
punish betrayal with their condemnation. Al- 
though the ones who most deserve the fostering^ 
care of government, their cries for help too often 
beat in vain against the outer wall, while others 
less deserving find ready access to legislative 
halls. 

" This army, vast and daily vaster growing, begs 
the party to be its champion in the present con- 
flict. It cannot press its claims 'mid sounds of 
revelry. Its phalanxes do not form in grand 
parade, nor has it gaudy banners floating on the 
breeze. Its battle hymn is " Home, Sweet Home," 
its war cry " Equality before the law." To the 
Democratic party, standing between these two 
irreconcilable forces, uncertain to which side to 
turn, and conscious that upon its choice its fate 



132 BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 

depends, come the words of Israel's second law- 
giver : ' Choose you this day whom ye will serve.' 
What will the answer be? Let me invoke the 
memory of him whose dust made sacred the soil 
of Monticello when he joined 

" ' The dead but sceptered sovereigns who still rule 
Our spirits from their urns.' 

" He was called a demagogue and his followers 
a mob, but the immortal Jefferson dared to follow 
the best promptings of his heart. He placed 
man above matter, humanity above property, and, 
spurning the bribes of wealth and power, pleaded 
the cause of the common people. It was this de- 
votion to their interests which made his party in- 
vincible while he lived, and will make his name 
revered while history endures. And what mes- 
saore comes to us from the Hermitage ? When a 
crisis like the present arose and the national bank 
of his day sought to control the politics of the 
nation, God raised up an Andrew Jackson, who 
had the courage to grapple with that great enemy, 
and, by overthrowing it, he made himself the idol 
of the people and reinstated the Democratic 
party in public confidence. What will the decision 
be to day ? The democratic party has won the 
greatest success in its history. Standing upon 
this victory-crowned summit, will it turn its face 
to the rising or the setting sun ? Will it choose 
blessings or cursings — life or death — which? 



BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 133 

Which ? " [Prolonged applause on the floor and 
in the galleries, and cries of "Vote!" "Vote!"] 

Copies of Mr. Bryan's speech on this occasion 
were in great demand. Senator Stewart circulated 
5,ooocopies,andotherbimetallists distributed large 
numbers of them; the circulation aggregating, it 
has been estimated, very near one million. 

All the great newspapers were filled with com- 
ments complimenting Mr. Bryan's great speech 
on this occasion. The New York World termed 
it " The most remarkable yet heard on the propo- 
sitions now before the House." The New York. 
Tribune said : " The speech was a success of 
which Mr. Bryan may v/ell be proud." The 
Atlanta Constitutiott contained this reference : 

"This afternoon young Mr. Bryan of Nebraska 
delivered the most remarkable speech heard upon 
the floor of the House in many years. It was 
upon the silver question. He advocated free 
coinage. For two hours and fifty minutes the 
young Nebraska orator held the close attention 
of a full house and crowded galleries. Instead 
of members leaving the hall as is usual, they 
crowded in, and every man who could, listened to 
the entire speech. There are few other men in 
Congress who could have held such an audience 
for so long a time. Certainly in the last ten 
years no man has performed such a feat. It was 
generally known that Mr. Bryan was to speak, 
but no one expected him to sustain the great repu- 



134 BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 

tation made by his tariff speech delivered last year. 
That speech made him famous. His speech of 
to-day will perpetuate his fame. No such speech 
has been heard on either side since the debate 
opened. His delivery was perfect. His argu- 
ment exceedingly strong. Every possible argu- 
ment in favor of free coinage he placed before his 
hearers in the most forcible style. He did not 
repeat himself. Though without a note before 
him, he went through every argument in language 
that riveted his hearers to their seats. Occasionally 
a single standard man would interrupt, but none 
did it without subsequent regret. He knows his 
case, so to speak. At repartee he is brilliant. 
His handsome smooth face always broadened into 
smiles when a question was propounded to him. 
With the confidence and ease of a fencing master 
he would clip the wings of his interrupters. He 
drove every one to a seat who exhibited the temer- 
ity to face him, and he did it with the apparent ease 
of the experienced matador. He pierced their 
argument and called for others as the matador 
would for a new bull. The speech was indeed 
grand. No other kind would have received such 
attention. Hardly a man left his seat even for a 
moment. There is something inspiring about 
Mr. Bryan's delivery. He is but 32 years of age, 
with a smooth face of the Sam Randall type, 
erect in his bearing, perfect in his gesticulation, 
a manly man to look upon. He is pleasing to 
the eye. His language is choice, smooth and 



BLAND'S LIEUTENANT 135 

eloquent. He uses no surplus words. Every 
word fits just where he puts it. His voice is 
splendid, his utterances pleasing to the ear, his 
argument strong. The speech has established 
him as the greatest orator in the House. When 
he finished, great applause and cheers of Vote ! 
vote ! rent the air. Silver and anti-silver men. 
Democrats and Republicans alike, crowded over 
to congratulate him. He simply had electrified 
the House. Tom Reed and Joe Cannon grasped 
his hand, and told him it was the greatest speech 
ever delivered on his side of the silver question. 
Bourke Cochran and William L. Wilson declared 
it was the greatest silver speech ever made 
upon the floor of the House. Bland, Culbertson, 
Bankhead and all the silver men demonstrated 
enthusiasm of the most intense order. For full 
ten minutes the House business stopped to allow 
for the congratulations. Not a member failed to 
congratulate him. Speaker Crisp says since he 
has been in Congress he has never known another 
man to hold such an audience for two hours and 
fifty minutes. He had never seen such close 
attention. Such interest in a speech. The silver 
men are happy over it to-night. They know that 
it has strengthened the cause. Some of them 
claim it may change many votes. There are 
those who say since that speech the silver men 
have a chance of winning in the House. No 
definite idea of such a speech can be given in 
brief synopsis." 



CHAPTER VI. 

BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT. 

With the approach of the Nebraska Demo- 
cratic State Convention of 1893 the interest in the 
money question increased. Friends of the ad- 
ministration determined that the Nebraska plat- 
form should contain no plank favorable to silver. 
On September 26, 1893, Mr. Bryan gave out for 
publication from Washington an interview in 
which he announced that he would return to 
Nebraska to serve as a delegate to the State 
Convention from Lancaster county, and to assist 
in giving expression to the sentiment of the party 
on the paramount question of the day. In the 
interview Mr. Bryan said: "I shall attend the 
State Convention, not to secure personal endorse- 
ment, but in the discharge of what I regard as a 
public duty. No one will assert that the President 
has the exclusive right to construe the platform 
upon so vital a question. Every Democrat is 
entitled to his opinion. The Democrats of the 
East have met and endorsed the President's con- 
struction. If our people agree with that construc- 
tion, they ought to say so. They owe it to the 
President. If they do not concur in the President's 
construction, they owe it to the rest of the country 

136 



BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 137 

to express dissent. The President is not infallible 
any more than any other man. If he is mistaken, 
we can better show our devotion to Democratic 
principles by dissenting, rather than by servile 
acquiescence. I may, as has beejn suggested, 
have few to stand with me in the fight. But if I 
stand alone I shall make the fight. I would be 
ungrateful for the honors the party has bestowed 
upon me if I deserted it in this hour of party 
danger, and I shall make any sacrifice necessary 
in its behalf." 

This announcement created the greatest ac- 
tivity on the part of the administration in Ne- 
braska, and their forces were organized for the 
defeat of the young Congressman in his effort to 
place the Nebraska Democracy once more in line 
for bimetallism. It was given out from high ad- 
ministration authority, that after this announce- 
ment Mr. Bryan need not expect any favors at the 
hands of the administration ; that all patronage 
would be withheld from him. He was warned 
that if he persisted in his course, no man whom 
he recommended for office could obtain an 
office, and that his endorsement of an application 
would be an insurance of the applicant's defeat. 
The warning and threats did not deter Mr. Bryan 
from his course. But it may be remarked right 
here, that the administration kept its word. From 
that time on. Mr. Bryan's recommendation at the 



138 BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 

White House was not worth the paper on which 
it was written. 

The State Convention met at Lincoln, October 
4, 1893. True to his word, Mr. Bryan was on 
hand, and he found himself confronted with the 
greatest aggregation of federal office-holders that 
ever assembled in one convention hall. It may be 
said that in point of dramatic interest that con- 
vention was the most interesting of any ever held 
in Nebraska. Mr. Bryan had an almighty big 
fight on his hands, and while he came out of the 
contest defeated for the moment he emerged 
stronofer in the hearts and the affections of the 
people of his adopted State. 

In that convention Bryan was not only sat upon, 
but not the slightest mercy was shown him. Even 
the ordinary parliamentary courtesies were ig- 
nored, and the young Congressman was not per- 
mitted to obtain the slightest advantage. 

For several days it had been known that the 
administration had scored a triumph in the elec- 
tion of delegates to this convention, but it was 
presumed by many that with so pronounced a 
victory the majority would at least be merciful. 
There was no quarter, however. The administra- 
tion element forced the fighting, and the Bryan 
wing seemed to invite the slaughter by its motions 
and demands for roll-call, which placed on record 
every delegate in the convention. The first con- 
test came upon the election of temporary chair- 



BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 139 

man, and the administration won by an overwelm- 
ing majority. The administration organized the 
convention permanently by the same decisive 
vote. Then when it came to selecting a commit- 
tee on resolutions one of the delegates moved 
that Mr. Bryan be made a member of the com- 
mittee. This brought on the fight in earnest, and 
the convention went wild. The administration 
men were determined that not even a personal 
compliment should be paid to the young Congress- 
man. Although eight members of that committee 
were to be gold men, they were not willing that 
Mr. Bryan should be the. ninth man. It was a 
different question from endorsing his financial 
policy. It was a personal question. But, as re- 
sults indicated, there was no mercy in that con- 
vention. The chairman of one delegation, in 
casting his vote, said his delegation did not come 
to instruct the Chair in his duty. He voted "No." 
He was willing that the Chair should do his duty 
as he realized it. Everything seemed to be against 
Bryan until Douglas county, in which Omaha is 
located, was reached. When that county was 
called there was a dramatic scene. The chairman 
of the Douglas delegation arose and announced, 
"Douglas county casts 103 votes ' No.' " Be it 
remembered that this " 103 votes ' No ' " meant 
that the personal compliment should not be ex- 
tended to Bryan of placing him as one man out 
of nine on the resolutions committee. 



I40 BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 

There was a deathlike stillness. G. V. Galla- 
crher, of Douglas, arose and levelling his good 
right arm at the Chair said, •' Mr. Chairman." 

"The gentleman from Douglas," said the 
chairman. 

In every quarter of the hall men stood upon 
their tiptoes. Every eye was directed toward 
Gallagher. 

" Mr. Chairman," said he, " in order to set my- 
self right before this convention I desire to say 
that the unit rule has been adopted in the Douglas 
delegation. As a Democrat I submit to the rule, 
but I want to say here and now that if it were not 
for loyalty to the majority rule of my delegation, 
my vote could never be recorded against paying 
a deserved tribute to the Chevalier Bayard of the 
Democratic party in Nebraska." 

This broke the camel's back. The Bryan men 
arose in their seats and yelled themselves hoarse. 
The galleries added their chorus to the tumult. 
The noise had not died away when C. J. Smyth, 
of Douglas, who is now chairman of the Demo- 
cratic State Committee, arose and declared : 
" Mr. Chairman, I challenge the vote of Douglas 
county. It has not been polled. No attempt has 
even been made to poll the vote. I protest 
against this system of *gag' rule. I demand 
that the Douglas delegation be polled." 

Then the entire convention arose ; everybody 
yelled at the same time. Bryan alone sat in his 



BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 141 

seat with that familiar set smile upon his face. 
The Bryan men cheered until the tears rolled 
down some of their faces. They waved um- 
brellas, hats, newspapers, and everything availa- 
ble. The crowds in the galleries and in the lobby 
seemed to be with Bryan and joined in the popu- 
lar acclaim. 

In the midst of all this tumult, the goldbug 
chairman of the Douglas delegation, and who, by 
the way, has since been rewarded by appointment 
as postmaster at Omaha, like Casablanca on the 
burning deck, stood with arms folded and a deter- 
mined expression upon his face. He calmly 
awaited the quiet which did not come until the 
chairman declared that this was a Democratic 
convention and every man should have a hearing. 

Then the Douglas chairman said that he had 
canvassed the vote " sufficiently to know how the 
majority votes were." At this the Bryan men 
hissed and the administration men cheered. One 
gold delegate said that Mr. Smyth was the only 
man that proposed to vote for Bryan, but at this 
moment Ed. P. Smith, an Omaha lawyer, jumped 
to his feet, and waving his umbrella yelled: " No, 
he isn't. I want to say, Mr. Chairman, that if no 
other vote is cast for W. J. Bryan I want my vote 
cast in order that the Democratic party of Ne- 
braska may accord him a slight tribute for his 
great work. I am for Bryan as a member of the 
Resolutions Committee." 

9 



142 BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 

Again the convention went wild. But the big 
body was against Bryan and nothing could stem 
the tide. After a poll of the Douglas delegation 
the chairman announced "103 votes * No,' " and 
that settled it. The motion to instruct the Chair to 
appoint Bryan a member of the Resolutions Com- 
mittee was defeated by a vote of 122 yeas to 373 
nays. Everybody thought that in spite of this 
vote the Chair would appoint Bryan as a member 
of the committee, tying his hands with eight other 
members who were against him. But the chair 
wasn't built that way. He omitted Bryan from 
the committee. 

When the committee was appointed, a motion 
to take a recess until 7 o'clock was adopted. 

As Bryan moved from the convention hall he 
was surrounded by a great gathering of men. 
From there to the sidewalk he was kept busy 
shaking hands. When he reached the street a 
crowd of workingmen and citizens of all classes 
gathered around him and climbed over one an- 
other to grasp his hand. It was one of the most 
peculiar public ovations ever witnessed. Here 
was a man who had just been sat down on by an 
overwhelming majority of his own party conven- 
tion, who was being congratulated on every hand 
— for what? For defending Democratic princi- 
ples. 

Let it suffice, however, to state that no man 
engaged upon a great triumphal march after a 



BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 143 

mighty conquest ever received such a splendid 
popular ovation as did Bryan after a mighty de- 
feat. 

While the convention was awaiting the arrival 
of the chairman of the Credentials Committee the 
crowd filled in the time at the evening session by 
yelling for Bryan. The calls for the young Con- 
gressman became so strong and earnest that the 
entire assemblage took up the refrain. The de- 
lay was becoming more than embarrassing. The 
crowd was an impatient one, and in the midst of 
all this one old delegate took a position in the 
center of the aisle and went through the panto- 
mime of a speech, but it was all pantomime. 

Not a word could be heard. It was simply 
ludicrous to see an old, bald-headed man standing 
up in a vast assemblage, and at one yell of the 
crowd the old man's arms would go down and at 
the next they would go up, and this pantomime 
was kept up until the crowd was weary. The 
assemblage was desperate by this time and called 
for "After the Ball." At 9.40 o'clock the chair- 
man called the convention to order. The Reso- 
lutions Committee reported with a goldbug plat- 
form, and upon this report Mr. Bryan was per- 
mitted to speak. The federal officials who had 
packed the convention found that they had under- 
taken a difficult task in endeavoring to completely 
bury the young Congressman. He asked no 



144 BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 

quarter. He mounted the platform and hurled 
defiance at his enemies. 

Mr. Bryan spoke as follows: 

"Gentlemen of the Convention: We have to 
meet to-night as important a question as ever 
came before the Democrats of the State of 
Nebraska. It is not a personal question; it is a 
question that rises above individuals. So far as 
I am personally concerned it matters not that 
(snapping his fingers) whether you vote this 
amendment up or down; it matters not to me 
whether you pass resolutions censuring my course 
or indorsing it, and if I am wrong in the position 
I have taken I will fall, though you heap your 
praises upon me; if I am right in the position I 
have taken — and in my heart, so help me God, I 
believe I am — (applause) — if I am right I will 
triumph yet, although you downed me in your 
convention a hundred times. (Applause.) 

"Gendemen of this convention, satisfied with 
what I have done, you are playing in the base- 
ment of politics. Why, you think you can pass 
resolutions censuring a man, and that you can 
humiliate him. I want to tell you that I am exiled 
with no more joy than the delegates who come 
here and drown their sentiments for fear they will 
not get office. 

"Gentlemen, if you represent your constituents 
in what you have done, and will do — because I do 
not entertain the fond hope that any of you men 



BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 145 

who have voted as you have to-day will change it 
upon this vote; I have no such idea, but I want to 
say to you that if the delegates who came here 
properly reflect the sentiments of the Democradc 
party which sent them here; if the resolutions 
which you have proposed here, and which you will 
adopt; if they reflect the sentiments of the Demo- 
cradc party of this State, and this party declares 
in favor of a gold standard ; if you declare in 
favor of the impoverishment of the people of 
Nebraska, if you intend to make more galling 
than the slavery of the black, the slavery of the 
debtors of this country; if the Democratic party 
after you go home indorses your action and this 
becomes your sentiment, I want to promise you 
that I will go out and serve my country and my 
God under some other name, if I go alone. 
(Applause. Voice from convention: 'The people 
of Nebraska will take care of you, Mr. Bryan.') 
"Gentlemen, I want to express it as my humble 
opinion that the Democratic party of Nebraska 
will never ratify what you have done here in this 
convention. My friends, in this city, when we had 
our primaries, there were banks that called their ; 
claquers in and told them to vote, but thank God, 
there are many men in Nebraska who cannot be 
driven and compelled to vote as somebody 
dictates. (Applause.) The Democratic party 
was founded by Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas 
Jefferson dared to defy the wealth and power of 



146 BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 

his day and plead the cause of the common 
people, and if the Democratic party lives it will 
still plead the cause of the man who wears a col- 
ored shirt as well as the man who wears the linen 
shirt. (Applause.) 

"You have got to-day to choose what kind of 
Democracy you want. For thirty years the 
Democratic party has denounced the demonetiza- 
tion of silver; for twenty years it has proclaimed 
it the "crime of the age;" it has heaped upon the 
Republican party all the opprobrium that language 
could express. If you are ready to go down on 
your knees and apologize for what you have said, 
you will go without me. (Applause.) 

"On the 14th day of July, 1892, John Sherman 
of Ohio introduced in the Senate of the United 
States a bill substantially like that which has 
passed the house known as the Wilson Bill. That 
bill was introduced in the Senate by the premier 
of the Republican party, by the leader of the 
financial system of the Republican party, and you 
come into this convention and attempt to thrust it 
down the throats of the Democrats as a Demo- 
cratic measure. (Laughter.) 

"There sits in Columbus, in the State of Ohio, a 
Democrat, once known as ' the noblest Roman of 
them all.' He has won and held the affection of 
the American people as few citizens have. He 
sits now crowned with the honors of a nation's 
gratitude. He sits waiting there for the sum- 




Hon. CHARLES F. CRISP. 




Hon. KOBEET E. PATTISON. 



BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 149 

mons to come that will call him home, where I 
know there is a reward for men who sacrifice them- 
selves for their country's good, and from the sol- 
itude of his retreat Allen G. Thurman says he is 
opposed to unconditional repeal, and when I 
must choose between John Sherman of Ohio and 
Allen G. Thurman of Ohio I take my Democracy 
from the latter source. (Applause.) 

"Do you say this is Democracy? Was it in the 
platform? Read the national platform; you can't 
find authority for unconditional repeal there. 
You find a demand for repeal, but you find 
a declaration that you shall coin both metals 
without discrimination, and without charge for mint- 
age, and are you going to snatch away a little of 
the platform and thrust it down the throats of 
Democrats and turn your back upon the declara- 
tion which has been in their platform for the last 
twenty years. The Democratic party in Congress 
has on many occasions expressed itself, and until 
this year there was never a time but what a ma- 
jority of the Democrats voted in the House and 
Senate for the free coinage of silver at 16 to i, and 
in this Congress, when the question came up in 
the lower house, a majority of the Democrats 
voted to substitute the Bland law for the Sher- 
man law, showing they were not in favor of 
unconditional repeal. Take the vote and see 
where it comes from. 

"This platform says we know no section. 



150 BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 

Well, my friends, we do not know as much as 
some other people in other parts of the country 
if we know no section. (Applause.) You take 
the six New England States, the States of New 
York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the two 
southern States that are really eastern — Maryland 
and Delaware, that cast 103 votes — loi were in 
favor of repeal. (Voice from convention, 'Doug- 
las county cast 103 votes.') I might sugg-est 
this: That to get the 103 votes they do not have 
to go back three years to find a convention. 
(Laughter.) How did the South vote ? You take 
that section of the country which I have called 
Democratic — I have mentioned — Maryland and 
Delaware — and the vote of those southern Slates, 
notwithstanding more influence was brought to 
bear, perhaps, than was ever brought to bear 
before, notwithstanding that, in those southern 
states sixty-eight Democrats voted against uncon- 
ditional repeal and forty-nine Democrats voted for 
unconditional repeal. 

"Take the States west of the Mississippi river 
— and there were 29 votes against repeal and 95 
for repeal — (applause) — and out of the 95 for 
repeal one came from Douglas county, and was a 
Republican, and I do not know whether my friends 
from Douglas are indorsing him because they 
elected him in a Democratic district or not. Then, 
gentlemen of the convention, you will find there 
were sectional lines in that vote. The grreat 



BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 151 

country west of the Mississippi river was almost 
to a vote against unconditional repeal ; the great 
country south, to which we look for our Demo- 
cratic majority, was, a majority of it, against uncon- 
ditional repeal. Do you tell me those men don't 
know what Democracy is? Out of thirteen 
Democrats from Missouri twelve voted against 
unconditional repeal. Take the Democrats of 
Texas, and they rolled up their tremendous 
Democratic majority, and yet a majority of them 
were against unconditional repeal. You take the 
men who have been preaching the gospel of 
Democracy — take John W. Daniel of Virginia, 
whose magnificent speech in defense of a consti- 
tutional money has not been answered, and will 
not be answered by any man — (applause) — you 
take Senator Morgan of Alabama; take Senators 
Vest of Missouri and Pugh of Alabama; take 
Harris and Beck of Tennessee, Vance of North 
Carolina, Buder of South Carolina, George of 
Mississippi — and they have stood up and said they 
were Democrats; they stood upon the national 
platform, and they were opposed to the repeal of 
the Sherman law unless you give something else in 
the place of the Sherman law that provided for 
the use of silver. (Applause.) 

" These gendemen are Democrats. Nobody has 
dared to impeach their Democracy. And yet I 
was read out of the Democratic party by a gende- 



152 BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 

man who could not be elected a delegate for the 
fifth ward. (Laughter and applause.) 

" Now, gentlemen, there is a division in the 
Democratic party on this question. The platform 
declared for repeal, and it also declared for the 
use of both metals without cost for mintage. The 
President of the United States has construed that 
platform. Is there a man here so lost to hero- 
worship that he will declare that the President has 
the right to construe that platform for him ? 
(Hisses.) Does anybody say that because a man 
is President it ogives him the riorht to take from the 
platform what he desires and discard what he does 
not want, and bind that upon the conscience of 
the Democratic party ? 

" My friends, I believe that every Democrat in 
the United States, whether he be rich or poor, 
whether he be a common laborer or whether he 
be able to go as ambassador to Italy because of 
his wealth — (laughter and hisses) — I believe every 
Democrat has the right to construe the Demo- 
cratic platform and to express that opinion. 
(Voices, 'We do.') And I am glad that you 
have had the courage — those who differ from me 
— instead of straddling the question, to come out 
squarely and state that the President is right in 
saying, after we have declared for free coinage, 
that we cannot have it unless foreign nations help 
us. Read the letter sent by the President to 
Governor Northen. In that letter he says : * I am 



BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 153 

opposed to free and unlimited coinage by this 
country alone and independently.' 

" I challenge you to find in any Democratic plat- 
form made by a national convention, or expressed 
by any vote of the Democratic party in the Senate 
or House, a declaration that sustains the Presi- 
dent. 

" The President has written a new platform, and 
it must be endorsed by the Democracy of the 
country before it is binding on any man. (A 
voice, ' You are right.') If you believe the Pres- 
ident is right in running his pen through our plat- 
form and declaring- that the aid of foreiorn nations 
is necessary to enable Congress to make laws for 
our people, express it in your resolution ; but, if 
you believe with me that this nation is great 
enough, strong enough and grand enough to leg- 
islate for its own people, regardless of the en- 
treaties and the threats of foreign Powers, then 
vote for the minority report. (Applause.) 

" Pass that bill through the Senate and where is 
your hope for silver? Do you believe in the use 
of gold and silver? Why, read what the platform 
said in 1880 and 1884. In 1880 we said 'honest 
money, consisting of gold and silver and paper 
convertible into coin.' Silver was honest money 
then. When did it become dishonest? In 1884 
we believed in honest money, the gold and silver 
coinage of the Constitution, and a circulating me- 
dium convertible into such coin without loss. In 



154 BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 

1884 silver was honest money, and no Democrat 
in a national convention dared to denounce silver 
as cheap, nasty or dishonest. In 1888 we reaf- 
firmed the platform of 1884, so that in 1888 silver 
was honest money. In 1892 we declared for the 
coinage of both metals without discrimination and 
without cost for mintage. Aye, silver was honest 
then, and until some national convention declares 
as the voice of the Democratic party of the nation 
that silver is dishonest money, I deny the right of 
any man, elected to any office, to denounce and 
ostracise silver as dishonest money ; I care not 
what his position or what his rank. (Hisses.) 

" Mr. Gladstone said the other day that Eng- 
land was opposed to silver, was opposed to bi- 
metallism, because England was a creditor nation, 
and because she gained by the appreciation of the 
dollar caused by the rise in gold, and because of 
that selfish interest that England would not be in 
favor of bimetallism because she wanted to get 
the dollar fatter every day in payment for the 
debts we owe. I want to ask you if it is to the 
interest of the American people to give her that 
dollar that grows fatter at the expense of the 
toilers of the United States. (Cries of * No,' 
' No.') 

"In these United States there are $132,000,000 
upon farm mortgages. They tell us we must 
not speak of indebtedness. No, it is better to 
suffer from it than to mention it and to correct 



BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 155 

the wrong. They call us calamity howlers because 
we dare to suggest that that is a large debt. You 
make that dollar larger by appreciation ; run it 
up until a gold ounce will exchange for twice as 
much as it will to-day and by legislation you fix 
upon this people a debt of ^132,000,000 that they 
never contracted ; you fix it to their disadvantage 
and to the advantage of the man that holds the 
note. You tell me it is not a sectional question ; 
but, my friends, when a gentleman from Connecti- 
cut stands upon the floor of Congress and says, 
' I want gold because my people loan money and 
I am interested in their getting as good a dollar 
as I can,' I tell you I will be sectional enough to 
stand upon the floor and say that my people owe 
money and you will never collect a bigger dollar 
than we borrowed if I can help it, so help me 
God ! (Applause.) I will not detain you longer 
— (Cries of 'Go on ' ' Go on ! ') — I will not de- 
tain you longer and enter into a discussion of this 
question which would go over the whole merits 
of it. It would require more time than you have 
to give. But, my friends, you know what the ar- 
guments are ; you have heard them day by day, 
and you know that if we would put it to vote in 
the State of Nebraska and let every man write 
upon his ballot whether he wanted to use gold 
and silver, or wanted to repeal the Sherman law 
to aid some foreign nation in the use of a single 
standard, you know and I know that not only the 



156 BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 

Democratic party, but all parties, would vote nine 
to one in favor of the free coinage of silver. You 
know it. 

"If, knowing that fact, you dare to place the 
Democratic party on record against the interests 
of the people, you alone are answerable for the 
consequences which will follow. 

" Why, my friends, why shall we appeal to the 
people for votes ? Do you go to a man and say, 
' Vote the Democratic ticket because you will get 
a postoffice ? ' No. The State Committee may 
send out letters to the candidates and tell them 
to come as delegates to the convention in order 
to get a postoffice, but you don't tell that to the 
people when you ask them for their votes. You 
say to them ' the Democratic party is the best in- 
strument by which you serve your country;' you 
try to tell them that by the application of Demo- 
cratic principles of government you will bring 
equality before the law ; that you will bring equal 
rights to the people, and you have taught them 
that you will give equal rights to all, and no spe- 
cial privileges to any. That is what you say when 
you go before the people. You must have some- 
thing to plead for ; you must have something to 
show them. 

"What are you doing, my friends? In 1890 
you put in your platform a plank declaring for the 
free coinage of silver, and for the first time in the 
history of this State you elected a Democratic 



BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 157 

governor. Free coinage didn't drive people away 
from the Democratic party. The next year you 
met, and for fear of embarrassing your Eastern 
brothers, you decided not to say anything at all 
until after the national convention ; and after the 
national convention you decided you could not say 
anything then because the national convention had 
"Spoken. (Laughter.) And we had a campaign 
of eloquence and ability that cannot be over- 
matched, and as a result the Democratic party 
that carried the State in 1890 was beaten by 
34,000 by the Republicans, and 24,000 by the 
Independents. 

" Now go a little further : when you were bold 
and declared for free coinage you carried the 
State ; when you were afraid to express yourself 
you fell down to nearly one-half your size ; and 
now you bow as willing worshippers at the feet 
of the golden calf. When you cry to the men 
who have robbed you by taxation, and you 
pleaded, and pleaded in vain for relief; when 
they have robbed you by taxation and then loaned 
the money that they took from you back to you 
on interest, and now try to get back from you a 
bigger dollar than the dollar which they loaned 
you — now you say that you are in favor of it. 
Say that instead of standing by the men who have 
stood by the Democratic party in the hours of its 
needs, instead of standing by the great producing 
sections of the South and West, whose interests 



158 BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 

are identical and who suffered from common bur- 
dens, say that instead of standing by those who 
have stood by you in your efforts for tariff reduc- 
tion, that in the hours of their need and yours 
you will desert the history of the Democratic 
party, you will turn a deaf ear to the pleadings of 
its greatest senators, its greatest lights, and turn 
and say to the people who have smitten you : 
' We are ready to lick the hands that smite.' Say 
that and call it Democracy, but I shall not call it 
Democracy until the Democratic party of this 
State has expressed itself upon the subject." 
(Applause.) 

Bryan's speech was greeted with a mighty 
demonstration. The convention's refusal to even 
place the young Congressman on the Resolutions 
Committee was met with most severe criticism. 
It was one of the best tributes that could be paid 
to Bryan that his enemies were afraid to place 
him upon the Resolutions Committee with eight 
men on the same committee against him. But 
that action was most severely criticised because it 
was a violation of all parliamentary precedent, 
which has been to treat the minority with decency. 
Simply in keeping with the facts, it must be stated 
that the Bryan men were not accorded the most 
common courtesy due to a conquered foe. The 
administration men plainly showed that they were 
afraid of the prowess of the young Congressman, 



BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 159 

and they did not propose to give him the sHghtest 
opportunity to exert his influence among his fellow- 
Democrats. The convention stood three to one 
against Bryan. The majority could have well 
afforded to place him on the Resolutions Com- 
mittee with eight men against him, but it chose 
not to do so. They acted very much like men 
who had an antagonist down and who did not pro- 
pose to let him up. The entire action, so far as 
Bryan was concerned, was impolitic and unwise. 

The young Congressman in the convention met 
with a defeat which some of the delegates called 
" ignominious," but if it was to be judged by the 
popular ovation which was extended to Bryan on 
every hand, he might have said on that day, in the 
language of Daniel Webster : " I still live." 
And from the indications, W. J. Bryan, though he 
was disowned and dishonored by the State con- 
vention of his own party, was the biggest and 
most conspicuous Democrat west of the Mississippi 
river. 

When the news of Bryan's defeat was carried 
to Washington the entire Cleveland Cabinet went 
wild with delight. It was proudly claimed by the 
Federal office-holders that Bryan was dead and 
that they had buried him politically forever. But 
subsequent events not far removed from that date 
showed that William J. Bryan was able to lay 
aside his grave-clothes and his shroud. 

The parting of tl»e ways with the young Con- 
10 



i6o BRYAN'S DETERMINED FIGHT 
orressman and the so-called Democratic adminis- 

o 

tratlon, however, had been reached, and no effort 
was spared on the part of Mr. Cleveland and his 
agents to humiliate the young man who dared to 
have his own opinion and to express that opinion 
even though it differed radically from the Chief 
Magistrate of the nation. But Mr. Bryan was not a 
man to be humiliated by the cheap tactics of the 
Cleveland administration. 

While the Secretary of Agriculture was loading 
down the wires with lonor-winded interviews 
denunciatory of Mr. Bryan, the young Congress- 
man, true to his nature, had no word of personal 
retort, but adhered strictly to the line of public 
duty which he had marked out; and he grew 
stronger and stronger each succeeding day with 
the people, who had learned to appreciate his 
splendid purpose. 



CHAPTER VII. 
"THE GRAVE GIVES UP ITS DEAD." 

The administration forces at Washington and 
in Nebraska were considerably disappointed when 
they found that their dehght in the temporary 
defeat of Mr. Bryan was shared only by the 
Federal officials. Some of these little fellows, in 
their blind vanity, could not see that Bryan really 
represented the overwhelming sentiment of the 
Nebraska Democracy. Others, however, very 
soon discovered their error. They soon learned 
that it is a very difficult task to destroy a man 
whose only sin had been that he struggled for a 
principle. The scene at the Nebraska conven- 
tion of 1893 very much resembled that wherein a 
gang of jay-birds peck upon an eagle. In this in- 
stance at least no injury came to the eagle, for he 
soared above the petty persecutors and left them 
to the oblivion for which nature had so admirably 
fitted them. 

Mr. Bryan returned to his Congressional duties 
while the administration put in much of its time 
branding for the slaughter men who were appli- 
cants for office and who had been known to 
sympathize with Mr. Bryan. The young Con' 
gressman began a determined advocacy of an in- 

161 



i62 GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

come tax plan. He was so vigorous in his 
championship of this measure that he drew upon 
himself considerable criticism of eastern news- 
papers, but he was rewarded by the adoption of 
the income tax as suggested by him, by the Com- 
mittee on Ways and Means. 

On January 13, 1894, Mr. Bryan addressed the 
House on the tariff bill, in which address he 
maintained his high reputation. 

On January 30, 1894, Mr. Bryan addressed the 
House on the subject of the proposed income tax. 
On that occasion he had pitted against him the 
eloquent Bourke Cockran, of New York. Mr. 
Cockran, although a Democrat, vigorously opposed 
the tax. From Mr. Bryan's speech in reply to 
Mr, Cockran the following extracts are taken: 

" I need not give all the reasons which led the 
committee to recommend this tax, but will suorp-est 
two of the most important. The stockholder in a 
corporation limits his liability. When the statute 
creating the corporation is fully complied with, the 
individual stockholder is secure, except to the 
extent fixed by the statute, whereas the entire 
property of the individual is ordinarily liable for 
his debts. Another reason is that corporations 
enjoy certain privileges and franchises. Some 
are given the right of eminent domain, while others, 
such as street-car companies, are given the right 
to use the streets of the city — a franchise which 
increases in value with each passing year. Cor- 



GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 163 

porations occupy the time and attention of our 
Federal courts and enjoy the protection of the 
Federal Government, and as they do not ordi- 
narily pay taxes, the committee felt justified in 
proposing a light tax upon them. 

" Some gentlemen have accused the committee 
of showing hostility to corporations. But, Mr. 
Chairman, we are not hostile to corporations ; 
we simply believe that these creatures of the law, 
these fictitious persons, have no higher or dearer 
rights than the persons of flesh and blood whom 
God created and placed upon His footstool. (Ap- 
plause.) Their assessed valuation increased only 
a little more than $300,000,000. This bill is not 
in the line of class legislation, nor can it be re- 
garded as leorislation ao^ainst a section, for the 

o 0,0 ' 

rate of taxation is the same on every income over 
$4,000, whether its possessor lives upon the At- 
lantic coast, in the Mississippi Valley or on the 
Pacific Slope. I only hope that we may in the 
future have more farmers in the agricultural dis- 
tricts whose incomes are large enough to tax. 
(Applause.) 

".But the gentleman from New York (Mr. Cock- 
ran) has denounced as unjust the principle under- 
lying this tax. It is hardly necessary to read 
authorities to the House. There is no more just 
tax upon the statute books than the income tax, 
nor can any tax be proposed which is more equi- 



i64 GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

table ; and the principle is sustained by the most 
distinguished writers on political economy. 

" Adam Smith says : 

" 'The subjects of every State ought to contrib- 
ute to the support of the Government, as nearly 
as possible in proportion to their respective abili- 
ities ; that is, in proportion to the revenue which 
they respectively enjoy under the protection of 
the State. In the observation or neglect of this 
maxim consists what is called the equality or in- 
equality of taxation.' 

" The income tax is the only one which really 
fulfills this requirement. But it is said that we 
single out some person with a large income and 
make him pay more than his share. And let me 
call attention here to a fatal mistake made by the 
distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr, 
Cockran). You who listened to his speech would 
have thought that the income tax was the only 
Federal tax proposed ; you would have supposed 
that it was the object of this bill to collect the 
entire revenue from an income tax. The gen- 
tleman forgets that the pending tariff bill will col- 
lect upon imports more than one hundred and 
twenty millions of dollars — nearly ten times as 
much as we propose to collect from the individual 
income tax. Everybody knows that a tax upon 
consumption is an unequal tax, and that the poor 
man by means of it pays far out of proportion to 
the income which he enjoys. 




Hon. HORACE CHILTO^^ 




Hon. E. C. AVALTHALL. 



GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 167 

" I read the other day in the New York World 
— and I gladly join in ascribing praise to that 
great daily for its courageous fight upon this sub- 
ject in behalf of the common people — a descrip- 
tion of the home of the richest woman in the 
Unitf^d States. She owns property estimatc-d at 
^60,000,000, and enjoys an income which can 
scarcely be less than ^3,000,000, yet she lives at 
a cheap boarding house, and only spends a ft-w 
hundred dollars a year. That woman, under 
your indirect system of taxation does not [>ay as 
much toward the support of the Federal Govern- 
ment as a laboring man whose income of ^500 is 
spent upon his family. (Applause.) 

" Wliy, sir. tlie gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Cockran) said that the poor are opposed to this 
tax because they do not want to be deprived of 
participation in it, and that taxation instead of 
beinor a sio^n of servitude is a bado^e of freedom. 
If taxation is a badge of freedom, let me assure 
my friend that the poor people of this country are 
covered all over with the insiornia of freemen. 

o 

(Applause.) 

'• Notwithstanding the exemptions proposed by 
this bill, the people whose incomes are less than 
$4,000 will still contribute far more than their just 
share to the support of the Government. The 
gendeman says that he opposes this tax in the in- 
terest of the poor ! Oh, sir, is it not enough to 



1 68 GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

betray the cause of the poor — must it be done 
with a kiss ? (Applause.) 

" Would it not be fairer for the gentleman to 
fling his burnished lance full in the face of the 
toiler, and not plead for the great fortunes of this 
country under cover of the poor man's name? 
(Applause.) The gentleman also tells us that 
the rich will welcome this tax as a means of se- 
curing greater power. Let me call your atten- 
tion to the resolutions passed by the New York 
Chamber of Commerce. I wonder how many 
poor men have membership in that body ! 

"They say that the income tax was 'only tole- 
rated as a war measure, and was abrogated by 
universal consent as soon as the condition of the 
country permitted.' Abrogated by universal con- 
sent ! What refreshinor ignorance from such an 
intelligent source ! If their knowledge of other 
facts recited in those resolutions is as accurate as 
that statement, how much v/eight their resolutions 
ought to have ! Why, sir, rjiere never has been 
a day since the war when n majority of the people 
of the United States op]f;o3ed an income tax. 

* :J: :5: :5: :{: * 

" But they say that the income tax invites per- 
jury; that the man v/ho has a large income will 
6wear falsely, and thus avoid the payment of the 
tax ; and, indeed, she gentleman from Massachu- 
setts (Mr. Walk'!;;) admitted that his district was 
f*iil of such people, and he said that our districts 



GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 169 

were, too. I suppose these constituents whom he 
accuses of perjury are expected to pat him on 
the back when he oroes home and braof about 
the compHment he paid them. (Laughter and 
applause.) 

" If there is a man in my district whose veracity 
is not worth two cents on the dollar, who will 
perjure himself to avoid the payment of a just 
tax imposed by law, I am going to wait until he 
pleads guilty before I make that charge against 
him. (Laughter and applause.) 

" They say that we must be careful and not in- 
vite perjury. Why, sirs, this Government has too 
much important business on hand to spend its 
time trying to bolster up the morality of men 
who can not be trusted to swear to their incomes. 
And let me suggest that gendemen who come to 
this House and tell us that their districts are full 
of such persons are treading upon dangerous 
ground. If a man will hold up his hand to 
Heaven and perjure his soul to avoid a 2 per 
cent, tax due to his Government, how can you 
trust such a man when he goes into court and 
testifies in a case in which he has a personal in- 
terest ? 

"If your districts are full of perjurers, if your 
districts are full of men who violate with impunity 
not only the laws, but their oaths, do you not 
raise a quesdon as to the honesty of the methods 
by which they have accumulated their fortunes ? 



170 GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

(Applause on the Democratic side.) Instead of 
abandoning just measures for fear somebody will 
perjure himself, let them be enacted into law, 
and then if anyone perjures himself we can treat 
him like any other felon, and punish him for his 
perjury. (Applause.) 

" But, gentlemen say that some people will avoid 
the tax, and that therefore it is unfair to the peo- 
ple who pay. What law is fully obeyed ? Why 
are criminal courts established, except to punish 
people who violate the laws which society has 
made ? The man who pays his tax need not con- 
cern himself about the man who avoids it, unless, 
perhaps, he is willing to help prosecute the delin- 
quent. The man who makes an honest return 
and complies with the law pays no more than the 
rate prescribed, and if the possessors of large 
fortunes escape by fraud the payment of one-half 
their income tax, they will still contribute far more 
than they do now to support the Federal Govern- 
ment, and to that extent relieve from burdens 
those who now pay more than their share. 

" The gentlemen who are so fearful of socialism 
when the poor are exempted from an income tax, 
view with indifference those methods of taxation 
which give the rich a substantial exemption. 
They weep more because fifteen millions are to be 
collected from the incomes of the rich than they 
do at the collection of three hundred millions 
upon the goods which the poor consume. And 



GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 171 

when an attempt is made^ to equalize these bur- 
dens, not fully, but partially only, the people of 
the South and West are called Anarchists, 

"I deny the accusation, sirs. It is among the 
people of the South and West, on the prairies and 
in the mountains, that you find the staunchest sup- 
porters of grovernment and the best friends of law 
and order. 

"You may not find among these people the 
great fortunes which are accumulated in cities, nor 
will you find the dark shadows which these for- 
tunes throw over the community, but you will find 
those willing to protect the rights of property, 
even while they demand that property shall bear 
its share of taxation. You may not find among 
them so much of wealth, but you will find men 
who are not only willing to pay their taxes to sup- 
port the Government, but are willing whenever 
necessary to offer up their lives in its defense. 

"These people, sir, whom you call Anarchists 
because they ask that the burdens of government 
shall be equally borne, these people have ever 
borne the cross on Calvary and saved their 
country with their blood. 

"Let me refer again, in conclusion, to the state- 
ment made by the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Cockran), that the rich people of his city 
favor the income tax. In a letter which appeared 
in the New York World on the 7th of this month, 
Ward McAllister, the leader of the 'Four Hun- 



172 GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

dred,' enters a very emphatic protest against the 
income tax. (Derisive laughter.) Here is an 
extract : 

"In New York City and Brooklyn the local 
taxation is ridiculously high, in spite of the 
virtuous protest to the contrary by the officials in 
authority. Add to this high local taxation an in- 
come tax of 2 per cent, on every income exceed- 
ing ^4,000, and many of our best people will be 
driven out of the country. An impression seems 
to exist in the minds of our great Democratic 
Solons in Congress that a rich man would give up 
all his wealth for the privilege of living in this 
country. A very short period of income taxation 
would show these orentlemen their mistake. The 
custom is growing from year to year for rich men 
to go abroad and live, where expenses for the 
necessaries and luxuries of life are not nearly so 
high as they are in this country. The United 
States, in spite of their much boasted natural 
resources, could not maintain such a strain for any 
considerable length of time, (Laughter.) 

•'But whither will these people fly? If their 
tastes are English, 'quite English, you know,' and 
they stop in London, they will find a tax of more 
than 2 per cent, assessed upon incomes; if they 
look for a place of refuge in Prussia, they will find 
an income tax of 4 per cent.; if they search for 
seclusion among the mountains of Switzerland, 
they will find an income tax of 8 per cent.; if they 



GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 173 

seek repose under the sunny skies of Italy, they 
will find an income tax of more than 12 per cent.; 
if they take up their abode in Austria, they will 
find a tax of 20 per cent. I repeat, Whither will 
they fly?" 

Mr. Weadock: "The gentleman will allow me 
to suggest that at Monte Carlo such a man would 
not have to pay any tax at all." (Laughter.) 

Mr. Bryan: "Then, Mr. Chairman, I presume 
to Monte Carlo he would go, and that there he 
would give up to the wheel of fortune all the 
wealth of which he would not give a part to 
support the Government which enabled him to 
accumulate it. (Laughter and applause.) 

"Are there really any such people in this 
country? Of all the mean men I have ever 
known, I have never known one so mean that I 
would be willing to say of him that his patriotism 
was less than 2 per cent. deep. (Laughter and 
applause.) 

"There is not a man whom I would charge 
with being willing to expatriate himself rather 
than contribute from his abundance to the support 
of the Government that protects him. 

"If 'some of our best people' prefer to leave 
the country rather than pay a tax of 2 per cent., 
God pity the worst. (Laughter.) 

" If we have people who value free government 
so little that they prefer to live under monarchical 
institutions, even without an income tax, rather 



174 GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

than live under the stars and stripes and pay a 2 
per cent, tax, we can better afford to lose them 
and their fortunes than risk the contaminating in- 
fluence of their presence. (Applause.) 

"I will not attempt to characterize such persons. 
If Mr. McAllister is a true prophet, if we are to 
lose some of our 'best people' by the imposition 
of an income tax, let them depart, and as they 
leave without regret the land of their birth, let 
them go with the poet's curse ringing in their 
ears: 

" ' Breathes there the man with soul so dead 
Wlio never to himself hath said, 

This is my own, my native land ! 
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned. 
As home his footsteps he hath turned 

From wandering on a foreign strand? 
If such there breathe, go mark him well; 
For him no minstrel raptures swell ; 
High though his titles, proud his name, 
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim; 
Despite those titles, power and pelf. 
The wretch, concentered all in self, 
Living, shall foifeit fair renown, 
And, doubly dying, shall go down 
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, 
Unwept, unhonored and unsung ' " 

(Loud and long-continued applause.) 

On Frbriiary 23, 1894, the Union League Club 

of Chicago gave a banquet of national interest. 



GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 175 

Covers were laid for 500 guests. The speakers 
and their subjects were as follows : 

Governor McKinley of Ohio, " ' Washington is 
the Mightiest Name on Earth ' — Lincoln ; " John 
S. Wise of New York, "The Due Administration 
of Justice is the Firmest Pillar of Good Govern- 
ment ; " Associate Justice David J. Brewer of 
Washington, D. C., " Lessons from Washington's 
Farewell Address ;" Luther Laflin Mills of Illinois, 
" Tis Essentially True That Virtue or Morality is 
a Necessary Spring of Popular Government ; " 
Bishop Charles H. Fowler of Minnesota, "The 
Name of America Must Always Exalt the Just 
Pride of Patriotism ; " William J. Bryan of Ne- 
braska, " Patriotism." 

Mr. Bryan's address on this occasion is of more 
than ordinary interest at this time. He spoke as 
follows : 

"Patriotism is defined as love of country, and is 
everywhere recognized as the highest civic virtue. 
Some have regarded it as a sentimental attach- 
ment to their native or adopted land; some have 
called it devotion to the flag; and still others have 
seen in it that higher satisfaction which purchases 
natural advantages. But whatever may be its 
essence or the form of its expression, patriotism 
has ever been the inspiration of statesman, poet 
and orator. This was the theme of Pericles when 
he commemorated the death of those who fell at 
Salamis. This was the theme of Tennyson when 



176 GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

he laid his graceful tribute of praise upon the 
tomb of England's greatest general. This was 
the theme of Patrick Henry when his eloquence 
aroused our revolutionary sires to armed resist- 
ance, and gave to them the immortal war-cry, 
'Liberty or death.' This was the theme of those 
who, in memory of Washington, gave to their 
countrymen — not a poem nor an oration, but 
more than both combined — a monument, the most 
imposing shaft ever erected by human hands in 
gratitude to man. 

"There is no more valuable literature than that 
which embalms the names and deeds of heroes ; 
there is no money more worthily expended than 
that which expresses in granite, in marble or in 
bronze, a people's appreciation of their patriots ; 
and, since we imitate that which we admire, there 
are no reasons more laudable in purpose and 
more ennobling in effect than those, like the pres- 
ent, which cultivate within us a love of country by 
the study of those who deserve their country's 
love. We render unto him due meed of praise 
whose sword leaps from its scabbard at his coun- 
try's call ; we bestow our heart's affection upon 
the volunteer whose time and means, and even 
life, are a nation's reliance in the hour of peril, 
but we are apt to overlook the labor cf those 
whose devotion is as truly shown when the temple 
of Janus is closed and the implements of carnage 
give place to the tools of industry. Sad, indeed, 



GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 177 

would be the lot of this generation if loyalty could 
be proved only in the service of Mars. To those 
who are of the aftermath the lines of Milton bring 
sweet assurance : 

" ' Peace hath her victories 
No less renown'd than war,' 

"Aye, peace hath her victories, and not her 
victories only, but her responsibilities as well. In 
this land of ours, where government derives its 
just powers from the consent of the governed and 
not from the divine right of kings, the call to duty 
is as imperative when it comes in the still, small 
voice, as when it issues from the cannon's mouth. 
Does it not require as much devotion to discharge 
with constant and conscientious care the daily 
tasks of the citizen as it does to carry a musket ? 
Does it not require as much self-sacrifice to list all 
one's property for taxation as it does to enlist in 
the army? Does it not require as much patriot- 
ism to serve one's country well in the election 
booth as it does to march to the strains of martial 
music ? Does it not require as much fortitude to 
place civil duty above private business and the 
common weal above party advantage as it does to 
command a company ? Does it not require as 
much courage to resist the siege of a lobby as it 
does to capture a city ? 

"Time forbids more than a passing reference to 
a few of the principal duties which attach to 



178 GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

citizenship to-day. There is a growing disposi- 
tion to avoid jury service and all manner of 
excuses are given by those who find it incon- 
venient to leave their work. But this sacrifice is 
not a matter of convenience, it is a matter of 
necessity. The jury system was never more cor- 
rect than it is to-day, and to preserve it as a 
means of administering justice, men of 'ordinary 
intelligence and of approved integrity' must con- 
stitute the panel. If thieves are to be tried before 
thieves and criminals are to receive their acquittal 
at the hands of their associates, the system will 
become a hollow mockery. The rights of liti- 
gants cannot be safely submitted to the profes- 
sional juror and the professional jury packer. If 
men plead pressure of business as a reason for 
shirking this duty, let them remember that large 
business interests are safe only under good gov- 
ernment. How many, like Naaman, the leper, 
stand ready to do some great things for their 
country, but despise those humbler duties which 
make civil liberty possible. 

"Another danger which we have to meet is cor- 
ruption in official life. The boodler is abroad 
in the land, and the evidences of his handiwork 
are too often apparent. He is as dangerous 
to the welfare of the country as an army with 
banners, and as insidious as he is dangerous. 
Whether he enriches himself by his own malfeas- 
ance in office or finds a profit in using the legis- 



GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 179 

lative powers for private purposes, he is a public 
enemy and must be scourged from the temple. 
We cannot depend entirely upon criminal courts 
to remedy this evil, for guilt may exist in the 
absence of legal proofs sufficient to overcome all 
reasonable doubt. Public opinion, that ever 
potent force in popular government, must hold to 
strict accountability those who are trusted with 
authority. Mr. Jefferson has wisely said: 

"'Confidence is everywhere the parent of 
despotism — free government is founded in jeal- 
ousy and not in confidence,' and it may be added, 
the indifference of the citizen is the opportunity 
of the knave. 

" If we were asked to name the greatest dan- 
ger which threatens our political life as a nation, 
what danger would we point out ? Not protecdon 
or free trade — a patriotic people will rid them- 
selves of either if bad ; not a gold nor a silver 
nor a paper standard — a patriotic people will 
settle the money question according to the best 
interests of all ; not extravagance nor stringency 
in appropriations — a patriotic people will support 
their Government with sufficient liberality, and will 
in time check unnecessary expenditures ; not State 
sovereignty nor the centralization of power — a 
patriotic people will wisely limit the authority of 
the general and local Governments. These are 
all great questions and may well occupy the best 
thought of the country and challenge the serious 



i8o GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

consideration of both citizen and official, but 
there is a question which is higher, deeper and 
broader than any or all of these : Will the citizen 
be as patriotic when he sits beneath the olive 
branch of peace as when he follows the eagles of 
war? 

" It has been said that the * voice of the people 
is the voice of God,' but that voice must be heard 
to be effective. It must be expressed and obeyed 
before it can assume supreme power. Some 
boast that they take no part in politics and talk as 
if participating in the business of the Government 
were beneath them. Shame upon such ingrates. 

" The man who is too good to take part in poli- 
tics is not good enough to deserve the blessings 
of a free Government. Suffrage is given to the 
citizen not merely as a personal privilege, but as a 
public trust, and should be exercised as such. 
The man who tries to vote twice is scarcely more 
to be feared than the man who is not interested 
enough to vote once. The few who control pri- 
maries in the interest of the machine are scarcely 
more to be blamed than the many who, by re- 
maining away, not only permit, but invite, misrep- 
resentation. The duty of the citizen does not end 
when he contributes his just proportion of the 
taxes collected by the Government ; it does not 
end when he goes to the polls and chooses between 
the candidates nominated ; his full duty requires 
attendance upon conventions, mass meetings, cau- 



GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD i8i 

cuses and primaries where public opinion finds 
expression and policies are initiated. Not only is 
there a prevalent disregard of political duties, but 
parents are often more solicitous about leaving a 
fortune to their children than they are about 
training them for the responsibilities of citizen- 
ship. If the political world is full of impurity, the 
son should be prepared to purify it, for in it he 
must live whether it be foul or clean. It was the 
boast of the Roman matron that she was able to 
rear strong and courageous sons for the battle- 
field ; let it be the work of the American mothers 
that they are able to send forth to do battle for 
humanity brave and manly sons who can mingle 
in politics without contamination and serve their 
country without dishonor. No age has faced 
graver problems than those which now press us 
for solution. No generation ever enjoyed greater 
opportunities for intelligent, heroic devotion to the 
country's good. It is as important for us to pre- 
serve our liberties as it was for our forefathers to 
secure them, and as we meet about this board to 
do homage to him whose sword achieved our in- 
dependence, and whose wisdom guided the foot- 
steps of the infant Republic, I can propose no more 
appropriate sentiment than this : 

" ' The United States — secure in peace or war, 
when the people so act, at all times, in all places 
and under all circumstances, that each is worthy 



i82 GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

of that noblest of all names — an American 
citizen.' " 

On March 2, 1894, Mr. Bryan introduced in the 
House of Representatives the following : 

" Whereas, An act entitled 'An act directing 
the purchase of silver bullion and the issue of 
treasury notes thereon, and for other purpose's.' 
approved July 14. 1890, provides 'that upon de- 
mand of the holder of any of the trt-asury notes 
herein provided for, the Secretary shall, under 
such regulations as he may prescribe, redeem 
such notes in gold or silver coin, at his discretion,' 
it being the established policy of the United 
States to maintain the two metals on a parity 
with each other upon the present legal ratio or 
such ratio as may be provided by law ; and 

" Whereas, This provision and other similar 
provisions for redemption in coin have been con- 
strued to mean that the Secretary of tlie Treasury 
has no discretion, but must redeem in that coin 
which the holder of the obligation demands ; 
and 

"Whereas, such construction violates both the 
letter and the spirit of the law, destroys the 
principles of bimetallism and places the treasury 
at the mercy of any who may conspire to reduce 
the gold reserve for the purpose of forcing an 
issue of bonds, therefore 

" Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 




IIo.v. W. J. STONE. 




CLARK TIOWEl.r., 

Editor of the Conslilulion. Atlanta. Ga 



GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 185 

Representatives of the United States of America 
in Conorress assembled : 

o 

"That all obligations heretofore or hereafter 
incurred by the Government of the United States, 
whether such obligations bear interest or not, 
which according to their terms call for payment in 
coin, shall be payable in gold or silver of present 
weiofht and fineness at the discretion of the 
Secretary of the Treasury, and the right of the 
holder of any such obligation to demand payment 
in a particular kind of coin, whether gold or silver, 
is hereby expressly denied; and that the Secretary 
of the Treasury is directed to maintain gold and 
silver coin on a parity with each other upon the 
present legal ratio, or such ratio as may be pro- 
vided by Jaw, by receiving the same without dis- 
crimination against either metal in payment of all 
public dues, customs and taxes." 

Speaking of this in an interview, Mr. Bryan 
said: 

"The object of the bill is to make certain a 
law now upon the statute books, and to prevent 
the misinterpretation and misconstruction of it. 
If it had been the object of the law to give to the 
note-holder the right to demand whichever coin 
he preferred, certainly the statutes would not 
have left it to the discretion of the Secretary of 
the Treasury to pay whichever one he preferred. 
The option cannot be given to the note-holder 
and the Government at the same time, and yet the 



i86 GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

department has construed a subsequent provision, 
in regard to maintaining the parity, in a way 
which absolutely destroys the discretion expressly 
given to the Secretary of the Treasury. If this 
bill can be brought before the House, it will enable 
those who believe in bimetallism and who believe 
that the Government owes as high duty to all the 
people as it does to those who attempt to injure 
its credit by raiding the gold reserve, to express 
themselves and to put the coin redemption pro- 
vision in such a shape as to prevent further 
misunderstanding or misconstruction. We are 
brouorht face to face with the sino-le standard and 
it is well to have the record made before the next 
election." 

By this time the administration was using its 
utmost endeavors to rebuke Bryan for his defense 
of Democratic principles. In one district in the 
State a man was appointed to office who it was 
known had worked openly and avowedly against 
the res^ular Democratic nominee for Congress 
and in favor of the Republican candidate. On 
the day following that appointment, a number of 
Bryan's recommendations were turned down, and 
this policy of refusing every courtesy to the young 
Congressman was adhered to to the end by the 
Cleveland administration. The situation in this 
respect is well described in an editorial from the 
World- Herald, March 15, 1894. 

" There are some strange influences at work in 



GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 187 

the distribution of patronage in Nebraska. It 
has been demonstrated that while Georo^e D. 
Meiklejohn, the RepubHcan Congressman, can 
have some of his friends appointed to office, 
friendship for WilHam J. Bryan, the one Demo- 
cratic Congressman from this State, is quite fatal 
to an applicant's chances. There is little use of 
the friends of Mr. Bryan keeping their eyes 
closed to the real situation. The defeat of Mr. 
Bryan's candidate at Nebraska City shows beyond 
all doubt — if any doubt has existed — that the 
anti-Bryan influences are the strongest with the 
administration. It will be said that Nebraska City 
being the home of Secretary Morton, he should 
be permitted to name the postmaster, but every- 
one understands what Mr. Morton has so often 
and so plainly stated, that he is not interfering 
with Federal appointments. It might with equal 
propriety be claimed that Mr. Bryan should be 
permitted to name the postmaster at his home. 
But this privilege was not granted him. A sec- 
ond choice was forced upon him, and his oppo- 
nents now claim that they suggested this second 
choice to the President. 

"It maybe true that the President was warranted 
in refusing to appoint Calhoun at Lincoln because 
of Calhoun's criticism of Presidential action. But 
in the Nebraska City case there was no question 
of Boydston's ' straight democracy.' He is a 
young man of high character. He supported Mr, 



i88 GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

Morton for Governor witli the same zeal that he 
labored for Mr. Bryan for Congress. In Ne- 
braska City's democracy Boydston has been the 
cheerful hewer of wood and drawer of water. 
Because of his ability and his enthusiasm he came 
to be known as Bryan's personal representative 
at Nebraska City. Against either Boydston's 
democracy or his character nothing could be said. 
He was, however, guilty of the unpardonable sin 
— he was a ' friend of Bryan.' The fact that he 
had also been a zealous friend to every other 
Democratic nominee could not make amends for 
the greatest 'crime' in Nebraska's political 
calender. 

" He had not criticised Cleveland, but on the 
contrary was one of the President's enthusiastic 
admirers. Anticipating the punishment for his 
offense in being zealous in the election of Ne- 
braska's one Democratic Congressman, Mr. 
Boydston recently accepted the Democratic nom- 
ination for City Clerk at Nebraska City. It will 
be seen that he anticipated correctly. 

" The Third District Democratic patronage has 
been distributed to reward friends of a Repub- 
lican Congressman. 

" In the First District, Democratic patronage 
has been distributed to rebuke friends of the one 
Democratic Congressman from Nebraska. 

" These are samples of ' Tobe Castor De- 
mocracy.* 



GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 189 

"This may be the way to build up the Demo- 
cratic party, but we doubt it. And it may also be 
said that it is the poorest method imaginable to 
tear down Bryan. 

•'It is just as well to understand right now that 
Bryan's recommendation to the administration is 
hardly worth the paper upon which it is written. 
But it is equally true that the young Congressman 
stands closer to the people of Nebraska to-day 
than ever before. And every move that bears 
the indication of an effort to rebuke him will only 
serve to increase the number of his admirers in 
Nebraska." 

On March 15, 1894, Mr. Bryan stopped in 
Omaha on his way to his home in Lincoln, from 
Washington. He had made such an admirable 
record in Conofress that the Democrats of Omaha, 
many of whom had helped the administration to 
rebuke the young Congressman at the State con- 
vention, turned out en masse to give him an ova- 
tion. It was noticeable that many of those who 
had been most conspicuous in the effort to rebuke 
him in 1893 made themselves conspicuous in the 
effort to do him honor on this occasion. There 
were many in that vast audience who differed 
radically from the young Congressman in opinion 
on the money question, but he preached to them 
the gospel of bimetallism eloquently and earnestly 
as he had at every opportunity presented in his 
career. He spoke strongly and eloquently of the 



J90 GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

necessity of making silver as well as gold a 
money metal, the foundation for the currency of 
the country and of the world, and predicted that 
his audience would yet see gold and silver go 
arm in arm to the United States mint. It was 
the great coming question he declared and no 
party was great enough to live unless it met 
every question as it came up. In closing Mr. 
Bryan completely captivated his great audience 
when he at once graciously acknowledged the re- 
ception accorded him and declared his adherence 
to the principle to which he is so thoroughly 
committed. 

" My friends," said Mr. Bryan in conclusion, 
" you have been very kind to me here. Kind far 
beyond my deserts. For your personal consider- 
ation and the political honors you have helped to 
confer upon me I owe you more than I can ever 
repay, but I feel so strongly upon this subject 
that even should every friend I have turn from 
me, believing as I do that inconceivable misery 
would be wrought by a single gold standard, still 
would I preach the doctrine of bimetallism from 
every stump." The great audience rose as one 
man and cheered the young orator for fifteen 
minutes. Thousands of people crowded upon the 
platform and congratulated him personally and 
bid him God speed in his good work. 

On the day following this reception, the 0)naha 
World- Her aid contained an editorial under the 



GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 191 

head line, "The Grave Gives Up Its Dead," as 
follows : 

"THE GRAVE GIVES UP ITS DEAD. 

" Congressman Bryan has reason to be proud of 
the splendid reception accorded him by the people 
of Omaha. The Democrats seemed to be a unit 
in doing honor to the young man, whose public 
career has been an honor to his State. Men who 
have disagreed with him upon the financial ques- 
tion were as enthusiastic as their free silver 
brethren in paying a tribute of respect to the 
young Congressman. 

" It is not too much to say that if Mr. Bryan had 
been offered as a member of a resolutions com- 
mittee at the Exposition hall Thursday night, in- 
stead of the Douglas delegation being solidly 
against him, it would have been solid in his favor. 

" Mr. Bryan has always manifested a tender feel- 
ing for the people of Douglas county, for it was 
here that he received in his first election a vote 
that swelled his majority to immensity. It was 
here, in fact, that he made the first speech that 
stamped him as a student of political economy, 
and here he has always had a host of friends 
whose devotion to him could not be questioned. 

" It is hardly necessary to refer to the breezy 
incidents at the last State Convention, when, in 
the lanoTLiaore of one enthusiast, 'We laid the 
Young Man Eloquent to rest in the grave.' But 
the scenes at the Exposition hall on Thursday 



192 GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

night impressed one with the thought that 'the 
grave ' has given up its dead. 

" This splendid reception to Bryan, coming im- 
mediately upon the announcement that he has 
' once more been turned down by the administra- 
tion,' is not without its significance. It demon- 
strates that while the young Congressman's in- 
fluence with the administration has become weaker 
and weaker, his power with the people has grown 
stronger and stronger. 

"While the reception Bryan received was a 
splendid tribute to himself, like the blessing of 
mercy it was creditable alike to them that gave 
and him that received. Many men who were 
earnest in the successful attempt to ' sit down on 
Bryan ' at the State Convention were equally 
earnest and enthusiastic in doing him honor at 
the great gathering on Thursday night. Many 
of these may not have changed their views since 
that time, but it is fair to believe that if that State . 
Convention were to be held to-day the * sitting 
down ' process would be carried out in an entirely 
different manner. 

"There are many men in Omaha who do not 
entirely agree with Bryan, who are proud of his 
record and his fame. 

"Bryan's strength is in his candor as well as his 
ability. Before him at the Exposition hall were 
the members of the two local Democratic organi- 
zations and representative Democrats in every 



GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 193 

walk of life. Upon every issue of the day he 
made himself understood. He took issue with 
the administration upon the issue of bonds, upon 
the repeal of the Sherman law, and he did not 
hesitate to refer to the well-known words of the 
Democratic Secretary of the Treasury in the 
halcyon days of that gentleman's championship of 
free silver. No other Democrat has ever lived in 
Nebraska who could receive the open recognition 
and the explicit tribute of organized Democracy 
in this city at the moment when he boldly assailed 
the attitude of the Democratic administration 
upon the great issues of the day; and when he 
said, 'You have been very kind to me here, but 
if every friend I have in the world should turn 
aeainst me, as lono- as I believe as I do on this 
question I will preach it from every stump' — when 
he said this, there was no man present who could 
restrain himself from joining in the applause which 
was given as a tribute to the sincerity and the 
courage of a public man. 

"The Omaha reception to Mr. Bryan must be 
accepted as formal recognition of the fact that he 
is to-day the leader of the Nebraska Democracy. 
The White House may send its messengers 
through the political Charnel House for * leaders ' 
in the distribution of patronage, but the Democ- 
racy of Nebraska, unawed and uninfluenced by 
the hope of reward to any individual, will prefer 
to doff its hat in the interesting presence of Wil 



194 GRAVE GIVES UP DEAD 

Ham J. Bryan — the pigmy in Presidential favor, 
the giant in popular esteem." 

On May 8, 1894, an incident occurred in the 
House which illustrates the conscientious activity 
of the Democratic nominee for President. The 
Com.mittee on Public Lands and Buildings brought 
up a bill to appropriate ^300,000 to buy a site for 
a new printing office. The debate ran along all 
through the day. After adjournment Mr. Bryan 
visited the various sites sucrcrested, examined the 
Government land suitable for the purpose and 
consulted real estate agents as to the price of 
property near the proposed sites. 

The following morning he took charge of the 
fight against the bill and showed that the land 
recommended by the conmiittee was being valued 
at ^100,000 to $150,000 above its actual market 
value. He also showed that the Government 
owned suitable land for the building and did not 
need to buy. He succeeded in carrying by a vote 
of 149 to 35 a resolution to instruct the committee 
to select a site on land owned by the United 
States. His presentation of the facts was so 
clear and convincing that he carried the House in 
spite of the unanimous opposition of the Commit- 
tee on Public Lands and Buildings. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
HOW NEBRASKA WAS REDEEMED. 

In the spring of 1894 the silver sentiment in 
Nebraska had undergone a wonderful increase 
and the Democrats in all parts of the State became 
restless. The party in Nebraska was dominated 
by inferior men who had obtained their power 
simply because they were the only ones who were 
willing to do the bidding of the administration, 
without reo^ard to what the orders miorht be. The 
dominant element in control of the State Com- 
mittee had the aid and co-operation of the greater 
number of the Federal officials. It was evident 
too that they had plenty of money at their com- 
mand, and it is certain that they had all the rail- 
road passes that were necessary for the conven- 
ience of their fellows. On the' other hand, the 
silver men were without money, but they were 
not without courage and determination. The 
administration men felt confident of their ability 
to hold power in Nebraska, unquestioned for time 
to come, and certainly they had good reason 
for this confidence. 

But one evening in the month of May 1894, 
there assembled in a private room in the Paxton 
Hotel, in Omaha, a number of Silver Democrats 

195 



196 NEBRASKA REDEEMED 

of Nebraska. It is just and proper that the 
names of these gentlemen should go into history, 
for they laid the foundation for one of the greatest 
triumphs ever accomplished in the record of a 
State. Their labor was entirely disinterested, for 
there was not one man among the number who 
was a candidate for public office either present or 
prospective. They were all property holders and 
men of wide business experience, and they had 
learned at great personal expense to appreciate 
the evils of the single gold standard. The names 
of these men are as follows: Judge Joseph E. 
Ong of Geneva, Nebraska; J. B. Kitchen of 
of Omaha, Nebraska; C. J. Smythe of Omaha; 
Nebraska; J. H. Broady of Lincoln, Nebraska, 
William H. Thomsen of Grand Island, Ne- 
braska; James C. Dahlman of Chadron, Ne- 
braska; State Senator John Thompson of Free- 
mont, Nebraska; G. A. Luikhart of Norfolk, 
Nebraska ; John C. Vanhousen of Schuyler, 
Nebraska; W. H. Kelligar of Auburn, Nebraska; 
Frank J. Morgan of Plattsmouth, Nebraska; 
Edwin Falloon, of Falls City, Nebraska, and C. 
D. Casper of David City, Nebraska. 

These gentlemen determined to call a State con- 
ference of the Free Silver Democrats of Nebraska 
and they fixed June 21 as the date on which that 
conference should be held. They determined to 
have the call for this conference signed by 250 
representative Democrats from all parts of 



NEBRASKA REDEEMED 197 

the State, and they determined that the matter 
should be an entire secret until all these signa- 
tures had been obtained and the call had been 
formally issued. It will be readily understood 
that it required a great deal of skillful effort to 
keep such an interesting plan a secret, particularly 
when such a large number of persons were 
required to sign the call. But the plan was well 
carried out and like a lightning flash from a clear 
sky the newspapers of the State on May 24, 
1894, contained, under glaring head lines, this 
formal call: 

"CALL TO FREE SILVER DEMOCRATS. 

"BeHeving that the question of the restoration of 
the double standard of gold and silver as money 
of ultimate redemption and standard of values is 
now one of the foremost issues in the minds of 
the voters of Nebraska, and that the change from 
the double to the single standard is, has been, and 
will continue to be, until reversed, a grievous 
wrong to the people of the United States and par- 
ticularly to the people of Nebraska ; and believ- 
inor that nine-tenths of the Democrats of Ne- 
braska so feel, and that they have not always been 
fairly represented on the subject by the Demo- 
cratic conventions of Nebraska; and believing 
that the time has come when the welfare of the 
party in this State imperatively demands a plain, 



198 NEBRASKA REDEEMED 

unequivocal statement of the party on that sub- 
ject; 

"Therefore, we, the undersigned Democrats of 
Nebraska, for the purpose of propagating the 
double standard doctrine in the Democratic party 
and enabling the masses of the Democratic party 
in this State to obtain the fairest expression of 
their views on that subject in the conventions of 
the future, do hereby call a State conference of 
Free Silver Democrats, to be held at Omaha, com- 
mencing at 2 o'clock in the afternoon of Thursday, 
June 21, 1894, at which conference will be organ- 
ized a 'Nebraska Democratic Free Coinage 
League.'" 

This call was signed by 250 representative Dem- 
ocrats. On June 21 this great conference was 
called to order. One thousand delegates were in 
attendance. The Nebraska Bimetallic League 
was oro^anized and the followinof resolutions were 
adopted : 

" We send orreetinor to our fellow-Democrats of 
Nebraska and ask their earnest co-operation and 
aid in electing delegates from every county in the 
State to the Democratic State Convention of 1894, 
pledged to vote for the insertion in the Democratic 
State platform of the following plank : 

" ' We favor the immediate restoration of the 
free and unlimited coinage of eold and silver at 
the present ratio of 16 to i, without waiting for 
the aid and consent of any other nation on earth.' 



NEBRASKA REDEEMED 199 

" In the effort to obtain a fair expression of 
Democratic sentiment, we urge upon every Dem- 
ocrat who beheves in the principles herein enun- 
ciated to participate actively and vigorously in the 
selection of delegates to the State Convention. 

"We recommend that in every county of the 
State the Democrats who oppose this proposed 
plank be invited to a thorough discussion of its 
merits, to the end that the Democratic party may 
act intelligently and harmoniously upon this great 
question. 

"We propose that this contest shall be fought 
out upon clean lines and with intelligent methods, 
but, confident in the correctness of our position, 
we also propose that the fight shall be vigorous, 
and that no effort shall be spared to place in the 
platform of the Democratic party the same 
emphasis, the same unmistakable utterance con- 
cerning the great question of finance, as has been 
lastingly imprinted upon our platforms concerning 
the great question of tariff reform." 

Mr. Bryan addressed the Conference on the 
money question and concluded his splendid effort 
in the followinor lanauao^e: 

"I bid you go forth to battle; upon you rests a 
grave responsibility, and going forth in the name 
of the party that you love, you can redeem this 
country. The restoration of silver is only one of 
the reforms, but if the Democratic party cannot 
accomplish it, it cannot accomplish the others, for 



200 NEBRASKA REDEEMED 

the same power opposes all the reforms demanded 
by the people to-day. Here before me are gray 
haired, men who have toiled for victory for long 
years without hope of reward — or fear of pun- 
ishment. Their eyes may not behold complete 
success, but they may know that their labors have 
not been in vain, and when the time comes lie 
idown happy in the promise: 

"'Yea, though thou lie upon the dust, 

When they who helped thee flee in fear, 
Die full of hope and manly trust, 
Like those who fell in battle here. 

" 'Another hand thy sword shall wield; 
Another hand the standard wave ; 
Till from the trumpet's mouth is pealed 
The blast of triumph o'er thy grave.'" 

The mighty determination of the silver men 
thoroughly alarmed the administration forces. At 
the same time it gave hope to the silver Demo- 
crats of the State and from all parts of Nebraska 
came encouraging words and promises of loyal as- 
sistance from men who had become disgusted with 
the manipulation of their party to base purposes. 
The Silver Democrats at their conference adopted 
a courteous resolution, requesting the gold-bug 
State Committee to call an early convention, in 
order that the contest might be properly carried 
on. But the committee refused to adhere to the 




J. R. McLEAN, Esq., 
Editor of the inquirer, Cincinnati. O 




Hon. G. G. VEST. 



NEBRASKA REDEEMED 203 

request and insisted on calling a late convention 
in the hope that the gold men would be able to 
repair their shattered forces. The silver men 
prepared for the fight and organized in every 
county of the State. In the spring of 1894 Mr. 
Bryan had announced his determination not to be 
a candidate for a third term in the House on July 
28, 1894. The following letter was sent to Mr. 
Bryan : 

" Headquarters Nebraska Democratic Free 
Coinage League, Geneva, Neb., July 28, 1894. — 
[To Hon. William J. Bryan, Washington, D. C] — 

Dear Sir: The growing sentiment that United 
States Senators should be the choice of the people 
make it essential that Nebraska should be in line 
with other States with this progressive idea. Be- 
lieving that the great majority of the people of 
Nebraska desire that you should represent this 
State in the United States Senate, the executive 
committee of the Nebraska Democratic Free 
Coinage League, respectfully request that you an- 
nounce yourself as a candidate for this high office. 

" We desire that you shall at the same time an- 
nounce the principles which will guide you in the 
event that you are elected, and also that you shall 
make a thorough canvass of the State. 

" In the event that you make this announcement, 
the friends of bimetallism in the Democratic party 
propose to urge your nomination by that party. 

•' We are confident that every element in the 



204 NEBRASKA REDEEMED 

State favorable to the principles you have so ably 
championed are favorable to your election as 
United States Senator, and we are certain that the 
political party which does not champion your can- 
didacy will not reflect the sentiment of the masses 
of the people of Nebraska. 

"Awaiting an early reply we are yours, truly, 

J. E. Ong, President, 

F. J. Morgan, Secretary, 

G. A. LuiKHART, Treasurer, 
James C. Dahlman, 

h. m. boydston, 
C. J. Smythe, 
Robert Clogg, 
W. D. Oldham, 
John Thompson, 
William H. Thomsen, 
W. H. Kelligar, 
George Wells, 

Executive Committee." 

On August 5, 1894, Mr. Bryan replied to this 
letter consenting to become a candidate for the 
United States Senate. In this letter he said that 
if he should be elected he would do his part to 
repeal the unjust laws now existing and to secure 
such new legislation as might be necessary to 
protect each citizen in the enjoyment of life, lib- 
erty and the pursuit of happiness. He said he 
would labor for an income tax as a permanent 



NEBRASKA REDEEMED 205 

part of our financial system, preferring a gradu- 
ated tax, but accepting the tax provided for in the 
Wilson Bill as a step toward the restoration of 
equality in the distribution of the burdens of 
government. He said that the most important 
and far-reaching question which u^ould confront 
the Senator then to be elected from Nebraska was 
the money question. On this question Mr. Bryan 
said: 

"In my judgment it lies at the bottom of the 
great industrial disturbance now prevalent 
throughout the world, and no permanent prosper- 
ity can be expected until silver is restored to its 
rightful place by the side of gold, or metallic 
money is abandoned entirely. For reasons which 
I have stated on former occasions, I prefer the 
remonetization of silver to the complete demone- 
tization of both of the precious metals , and I 
therefore * favor the immediate restoration of the 
free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at 
the present ratio of 16 to i, without waiting for 
the aid or consent of any other nation on earth.' 

" Believing that the creation of money is an at- 
tribute of sovereignty, I am opposed to farming 
out the right to any private individual or corpora- 
tion whatever, and, in case the precious metals do 
not furnish a sufficient supply, favor the issue of 
full legal tender paper, redeemable in coin, by the 
General Government, in such quantities that the 
volume of the currency, gold, silver and paper to-. 



2o6 NEBRASKA REDEEMED 

gether, will be so adjusted to the needs of com- 
merce that the dollar will be stable in its purchas- 
ing power, and thus defraud neither debtor nor 
creditor. 

" I shall also favor such legislation as will here- 
after prohibit the making of contracts for a par- 
ticular kind of money. No person should be 
permitted to demonetize by contract a nation's 
money. 

" The fact that the purchasers of the bonds re- 
cently issued (and issued, as I believe, without 
reasonable excuse,) drew from the treasury more 
than $18,000,000 in gold, to pay for the bonds 
sold to obtain gold, shows the viciousness of the 
policy followed by the present administration and 
by the preceding Republican administration, of 
allowing the holders of greenbacks and treasury 
notes to demand gold only for redemption. The 
Government has, and should exercise, the option 
of paying either gold or silver on all coin obliga- 
tions. If the Government will exercise this op- 
tion in the interest of the people generally, it will 
not be necessary to further burden the taxpayers 
by issues of interest-bearing bonds in time of 
peace. Until the Government does exercise its 
right to pay in silver, when that is most conve- 
nient, it will be at the mercy of any band of con- 
spirators who may find a pecuniary advantage in 
depleting the gold reserve. No issue of bonds, 
however great or frequent, can maintain a gold 



NEBRASKA REDEEMED 207 

reserve so long as the option is given to the note- 
holder, and the moneyed interests find a profit in 
the increase of our bonded indebtedness." 

Mr. Bryan also declared in favor of election of 
Senators by the people. He declared in favor of a 
liberal pension policy toward the nation's disabled 
soldiers. He favored the foreclosure of Govern- 
ment liens on all Pacific Railways, and their sale, 
in order that the people of Nebraska and other 
Western States might not be burdened by the 
tolls collected to pay interest on an exorbitant 
valuation. He favored the application of the 
principle of arbitration as far as Federal authority 
extends. 

Mr. Bryan's letter contained one plank which 
is very significant at this time, taken in connection 
Mrith his declaration immediately following his 
nomination at Chicago. 

This plank is as follows : 

" I am in favor of an amendment to the Consti- 
tution making the President ineligible to re-elec- 
tion, in order that he may not be tempted by 
ambition to use the enormous patronage at his 
disposal to secure a continuance in office." 

This is only one instance indicating that the 
principles advocated by William J. Bryan are not 
those hewn out for the occasion, but that they are 
the same principles to which he has devoted his 
life and his earnest and consistent effort. 

The contest for control of the Democratic State 



2o8 NEBRASKA REDEEMED 

Convention that year was the most spirited in the 
history of the State. County after county elected 
silver delegates and instructed for Bryan for 
United States Senator. The "gold bugs" felt 
confident of carrying Douglas county, in which 
Omaha is located, but the Bryan men invaded that 
domain and made such a vigorous warfare that a 
solid free silver delegation was elected from that 
county. The silver men controlled the State Con- 
vention which met September 27, 1894, by two to 
one, and that convention adopted a platform of 
which the following is an extract : 

" We endorse the language used by Hon. John 
G. Carlisle, in 1878, when he denounced the 'con- 
spiracy* to destroy silver money as 'the most 
gigantic crime of this or any other age,' and we 
agree with him that ' the consummation of such 
a scheme would ultimately entail more misery 
upon the human race than all the wars, pestilences 
and famines that ever occurred in the history of 
the world.' (Cheers.) We are not willing to be 
parties to such a crime, and in order to undo the 
wrong already done, and to prevent the further 
appreciation of money, we favor the immediate 
restoration of the free and unlimited coinage of 
silver and gold at the present ratio of 16 to i^ 
without waiting for the aid or consent of any othei^ 
nation upon earth. 

"We regard the right to issue money as an 
attribute of sovereignty and believe that all money 



NEBRASKA REDEEMED 209 

needed to supplement the gold and silver coinage 
of the Constitution, and to make the dollar so 
stable in its purchasing power that it will defraud 
neither debtor nor creditor, should be issued by 
the General Government as the greenbacks were 
issued ; that such money should be redeemable in 
coin, the Government to exercise the option by 
redeeming them in gold or silver, whichever is 
most convenient for the Government. We believe 
that all money issued by the Government, whether 
gold, silver or paper, should be made a full legal 
tender for all debts, public and private (applause), 
and that no citizen should be permitted to demone- 
tize by contract that which the Government makes 
money by law." 

Mr. Bryan was nominated by that convention 
for United States Senator. There was consider- 
able difference between this convention and the 
convention that assembled in Lincoln in 1893, 
when Bryan was rebuked. The convention of 
1893 was dominated by the agents of the Cleve- 
land administration, but the convention of 1894 
was in the hands of the untramelled Democracy 
of Nebraska. 

Mr. Bryan, in acknowledging his nomination to 
be United States Senator, said among other 
things : 

" I look back over what I have tried to do with 
nothing of regret except that I have been able to 
do so little of what I have desired to do. I have 



210 NEBRASKA REDEEMED 

realized, as each day passed, more and more the 
magnitude of the work, and more and more the 
exactitude of such a position. I want to say to 
you that I have striven as best I could to carry out 
your wishes as expressed at the convention and 
to protect your rights, as I understood them, and 
to do my duty as I saw it. I believe from your 
vote to-night that you will give me credit for 
having at least made an earnest attempt. 

" I could not promise more fidelity in the future 
than I have tried to give in the past. The ex- 
perience, which by your suffrages I have been able 
to earn, will be used, if by your suffrages again I 
am made a member of the upper part of Con- 
gress." 

Although the State Convention was controlled 
two to one by the silver men and the " gold bugs " 
had been thoroughly whipped, thirty-nine of them, 
mostly Federal office-holders, or beneficiaries 
otherwise of the administration, bolted the con- 
vention and upon this slender pretext built up an 
organization which laid claim to be the req^ular 
Democratic organization of the State. The progeny 
of this organization was the delegation that went 
to Chicago and was seated by the votes of the 
"gold bug" members of the national committee 
and then ejected from the convention by the 
unanimous vote of the credentials committee, even 
the gold men of the credentials committee not be- 



NEBRASKA REDEEMED 211 

ing able to countenance such a shallow claim to 
recognition in a Democratic assemblage. 

On the day following Mr. Bryan's nomination 
C. J. Smythe, chairman of the Democratic State 
Convention, issued a challenge to the Hon. John 
M. Thurston, who, although not formally nomi- 
nated, was regarded as the Republican choice for 
Senator. It was very evident from the start that 
Mr. Thurston was not fond of punishment and it 
required considerable correspondence before he 
was induced, or perhaps forced, to meet Mr. 
Bryan in joint debate. Messrs. Bryan and Thur- 
ston opened their debate in Lincoln to a crowd 
of about 10,000 people. The second meeting was 
in Omaha where 15,000 people had gathered. It 
was a mighty contest in which Mr. Thurston, who 
is a man of great ability, acquitted himself with 
great credit. But his friends were not profuse in 
their compliments of his really worthy effort. 
They were content to congratulate their distin- 
guished fellow-Republican that he had escaped 
from the contest with his life. Bryan overmatched 
the ablest Republican orator west of the Mis- 
sissippi river exactly as he has overmatched every 
orator on either side of the Father of Waters. 

Mr. Bryan was defeated for the Senate. Ne- 
braska has a law whereby preference of the United 
States Senator may be expressed by the voter on 
his ballot. Of these expressions Mr. Bryan re- 
ceived 8 1 ,000 votes. Had the result been deter- 



212 NEBRASKA REDEEMED 

mined by the popular vote, no politician denies 
that Mr. Bryan would have been elected by a 
large majority. But the effect of many votes were 
lost for Mr. Bryan by the election of members for 
the Legislature by districts and thus the Republi- 
cans controlled that body. Mr. Bryan's defeat 
was a great disappointment to his many loyal 
friends in Nebraska, but if it was a serious disap- 
pointment to himself no one was ever able to dis- 
cover it. He is not a man to " wear his heart on 
his sleeve for daws to peck at," and he accepted 
defeat gracefully. As soon as the result of the 
election was known, Mr. Bryan issued this splendid 
letter to his Nebraska friends. 

"Lincoln, Neb., Novembers, 1894. 

" The Legislature is Republican, and a Republi- 
can Senator will now be elected to represent 
Nebraska. This may be mortifying to the numer- 
ous chairmen who have introduced me to audi' 
ences as the ' next Senator from Nebraska,' but 
it illustrates the uncertainty of prophecies. 

" I appreciate more than words can express the 
cordial good will and the loyal support of the 
friends to whom I am indebted for the political 
honors which I have received. I am especially 
grateful to those who bear without humiliation the 
name of the common people, for they have been 
my friends when others have deserted me. I ap- 
preciate also the kind words of many who have 



NEBRASKA REDEEMED 213 

been restrained by party ties from giving me their 
votes. I have been a hired man for four years, 
and, now that the campaign is closed, I may be 
pardoned for saying that as a pubHc servant I 
have performed my duty to the best of my ability, 
and am not ashamed of the record made. 

"I stepped from private life into national poli- 
tics at the bidding of my countrymen ; at their 
bidding I again take my place in the ranks and 
resume without sorrow the work from which they 
called me. It is the glory of our institutions that 
public officials exercise authority by the consent 
of the governed rather than by divine or hered- 
itary right. Paraphrasing the language of Job, 
each public servant can say of departing honors : 
•The people gave and the people have taken 
away, blessed be the name of the people.' 

" Speaking of my own experience in politics, I 
may again borrow an idea from the great sufferer 
and say : * What, shall we receive good at the 
hands of the people, and shall we not receive 
evil ? * I have received good even beyond my 
deserts, and I accepted defeat without complaint. 
I ask my friends not to cherish resentment against 
any who may have contributed to the result. If 
my election would have brought good to the State, 
those who have aided in the defeat will suffer as 
much as we ; if my defeat has brought good to the 
State, we as citizens shall enjoy the advantage in 
common with those who secured it. If they were 

13 



214 NEBRASKA REDEEMED 

conscientiously striving to carry out •s/'hat they 
believed to be right, we cannot criticise them, be- 
cause each citizen has a right to contend in politics 
for the measures and men desired by him, and he 
is in duty bound to do so. If our opponents were 
actuated by unworthy motives, they will suffer 
more than their victim. Instead of finding fault 
when it is too late to apply a remedy, let us rather 
prepare for the work before us. I have advocated 
fusion because I believe it necessary to bring the 
reform forces of society together in order to over- 
come a united and insolent opposition. I still 
advocate fusion as the only possible road to the 
great reforms needed. 

" The enemies of good government, the bene- 
ficiaries of class legislation, act as one man, with 
unHmited means at their disposal. The common 
people have only their votes, and they must cast 
them togetheror suffer defeat. In this State, fusion, 
while only partial, has elected Judge Holcomb and 
thus secured the defeat of as corrupt a ring as 
ever cursed the State. That is a great victory 
for this year. Where else have the Democrats 
and Populists won such a triumph? Let us re- 
joice that by our combined efforts we have elected 
an honest man as Executive of this State. 

"The friends of these reforms have fought a 
good fight ; they have kept the faith, and they will 
not have finished their course until the reforms 
are accomplished. Let us be grateful for the 



NEBRASKA REDEEMED 215 

progress made, and ' with malice toward none and 
charity for all ' begin the work of the next 
campaign. 

" Those who fight for the right may be defeated, 
but they are never conquered. They may suffer 
reverses, but they never suffer disgrace. 
" Yours truly, 

" W. J. Bryan," 



CHAPTER IX. 
BRYAN AT ARLINGTON. 

On May 30, 1894, at Arlington, Washington, 
D. C, Mr. Bryan delivered the Memorial Day 
Address, which was listened to by the President 
and his cabinet, and many members of Congress. 
This address was admitted by Mr. Bryan's most 
bitter opponents, to be one of the best of 
memorial day productions. On this occasion Mr. 
Bryan said: 

"With flowers in our hands and sadness in our 
hearts, we stand amid the tombs where the nation's 
dead are sleeping. It is appropriate that the 
chief executive is here, accompanied by his cabi- 
net ; it is appropriate that the soldier's widow is 
here, and the soldier's son ; it is appropriate that 
here are assembled, in numbers growing less 
each year, the scarred survivors, federal and con- 
federate, of our last great war ; it is appropriate, 
also, that these exercises in honor of comrades 
dead, should be conducted by comrades still sur- 
viving. All too soon the day will come, when 
these graves must be decorated by hands unused 
to the implements of war, and when these speeches 
must be made by lips that never answered to a 
roll call. 

216 



BRYAN AT ARLINGTONi 217 

**We, who are of the aftermath, cannot look 
upon the flag with the same emotions that thrill 
you, who have followed it as your pillar of cloud 
by day and your pillar of fire by night, nor can 
we appreciate it as you can who have seen it 
waving in front of reinforcements when succor 
meant escape from death ; neither can we, stand- 
ing by these blossom-covered mounds, feel as you 
have often felt when far away from home, and on 
hostile soil you have laid your companions to 
rest ; but from a new generation we can bring you 
the welcome assurance that the commemoration 
of this day will not part with you. We may 
neglect the places where the nation's greatest vic- 
tories have been won, but we cannot forget the 
Arlingtons which the nation has consecrated with 
its tears. 

"To ourselves, as well as to the dead, we owe 
the duty which we discharge here, for monuments 
and memorial days declare the patriotism of the 
living no less than the virtues of those whom 
they commemorate. 

"We would be blind indeed to our own interests 
and to the welfare of posterity, if we were deaf 
to the just demands of the soldiers and his de- 
pendents. We are grateful for the services ren- 
dered by our defenders, whether illustrious or 
nameless, and yet a nation's gratitude in not en- 
tirely unselfish, since, by our regard for the dead, 
we add to the security of the living ; by our 



2i8 BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 

remembrance of those who have suffered, we give 
inspiration to those upon whose valor we must 
hereafter rely, and prove ourselves worthy of the 
sacrifices which have been made and which may 
be again required. 

" The essence of patriotism lies in a willingness 
to sacrifice for one's country, just as true great- 
ness finds expression, not in blessings enjoyed, 
but in good bestowed. Read the words inscribed 
on the monuments reared by loving hands to the 
heroes of the past ; they do not speak of wealth 
inherited, or honors bought, or of hours in leisure 
spent, but of service done. Twenty years, forty 
years, a life or life's most precious blood he 
yielded up for the welfare of his fellows — this is 
the simple story which proves that it is now, and 
ever has been, more blessed to give than to re- 
ceive. 

•' The officer was a patriot when he gave his abil- 
ity to his country and risked his name and fame 
upon the fortunes of war ; the private soldier was 
a patriot when he took his place in the ranks and 
offered his body as a bulwark to protect the flag ; 
the wife was a patriot when she bade her hus- 
band farewell and gathered about her the little 
brood over which she must exercise both a 
mother's and a father's care ; and if there can be 
degrees in patriotism, the mother stood first 
among the patriots when she gave to the nation 
her sons, the divinely-appointed support of her 




Senator STEPHEN M. WHITE. 




Hon. JOHN P. ALTCIELD- 



BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 221 

declining years, and as she brushed the tears 
away, thanked God that he had given her the 
strength to rear strong and courageous sons for 
the battlefield. 

" To us who were born too late to prove upon 
the battlefield our courage and our loyalty, it is 
gratifying to know that opportunity will not 
be wanting to show our love of country. In a 
nation like ours, where the Government is 
founded upon the principle of equality and de- 
rives its just powers from the consent of the 
Government ; in a land like ours, I say, where 
every citizen is a sovereign and where no one 
cares to wear a crown, every year presents a 
battlefield and every day brings forth occasion for 
the display of patriotism. 

"And on this memorial day we shall fall short of 
our duty if we content ourselves with praising 
the dead or complimenting the living and fail to 
make preparation for those responsibilities which 
present times and present conditions impose upon 
us. We can find instruction in that incomparable 
address delivered by Abraham Lincoln on the 
battlefield of Gettysburg. It should be read as 
a part of the exercises of this day on each return- 
ing year as the Declaration of Independence is 
read on the Fourth of July. Let me quote from 
it, for its truths, like all truths, are applicable in 
all times and climes : — 

" 'We have come to dedicate a portion of that 



222 BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 

field as a final resting place for those who here 
gave their lives that that nation might live. It is 
altogether fitting and proper that we should do 
this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, 
we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this 
ground. The brave men, living and dead, who 
struggled here, have consecrated it far above our 
power to add or detract. The world will little 
note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it 
cannot forget what they did here. It is for us, 
the living, rather to be dedicated here to the un- 
finished work which they who fought here have 
thus far so nobly advanced.' 

" 'The Unfinished Work.' Yes, every generation 
leaves to its successor an unfinished work. The 
work of society, the work of human progress, 
the work of civilization is never completed. We 
build upon the foundation which we find already 
laid, and those who follow us take up the work 
where we leave off. Those who fought and fell 
thirty years ago did nobly advance the work in 
their day, for they led the nadon up to higher 
grounds. Theirs was the greatest triumph in all 
history. Other armies have been inspired by 
love of conquest, or have fought to repel a foreign 
enemy, but our armies held within the Union 
brethren, who now rejoice at their own defeat, and 
glory in the preservation of the nation, which 
they once sought to dismember. Ko greater 
victory can be won by citizens or soldiers than to 



BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 223 

transform temporary foes into permanent friends. 
But let me quote again : 

"*It is rather for us to be here dedicated to 
the great task remaining before us, that from 
these honored dead we take increased devotion 
to that cause for which they gave the last full 
measure of devotion ; that we here highly resolve 
that these dead shall not have died in vain ; that 
this nation, under God, shall have a new birth oi 
freedom, and that government of the people, by 
the people and for the people shall not perish 
from the earth.' 

"Aye, let us here dedicate ourselves anew to 
this unfinished work, which requires of each 
generation constant sacrifice and unceasing care. 
Pericles, in speaking of those who fell at Salamis, 
explained the loyalty of his countrymen when he 
said: 

" ' It was for such a country, then, that these 
men, nobly resolving not to have it Uken from 
them, fell fighting, and every one cf their sur- 
vivors may well be willing to suffer 5/i its behalf.' 

" The strength of a nation does not lie in forts, 
nor in navies, nor yet in great standing armies, 
but in happy and contented citizens, who are ever 
ready to protect for themselves and to preserve 
for posterity the blessings which they enjoy. It 
is for us in this generation to prove ourselves 
worthy of our ancestors by making our Govern- 
ment so good, so just and so beneficent, that 



224 BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 

all who live beneath its flag will be willing if need 
be to die in its defense. It is for us of this gener- 
ation to so perform the duties of citizenship that 
a ' government of the people, by the people and 
for the people shall not perish from the earth.' 

"The man who gave expression to these thoughts 
is a safe man for any position where genuine 
patriotism and real ability are the essentials." 

On September i, 1894, Mr. Bryan became 
editor-in-chief of the Omaha World-Herald. His 
strongest and best editorial efforts were devoted 
to an education of the people on the money 
question. The following extracts are taken from 
some of Mr. Bryan's editorials, for which extracts 
this publication is indebted to the New York 
World: 

" Editor Bryan attacked the secret bond deal 
arranged by Mr. Cleveland and Mr. Carlisle with 
J. Pierpont Morgan in an editorial on March 4, 

1895. ^^ s^^<^ — 

" 'The enormous bonus that was given the 
Rothschild syndicate to take the last issue of 
bonds may prove, after all, to be one of the best 
investments the people have made in many a day. 
The deal reveals the cloven foot of a political 
syndicate, which undoubtedly has for its purpose 
the expenditure of foreign money to carry the 
next presidential and subsequent presidential 
elections in the interest of foreign and home capi- 
talists, and the money the people have paid to 



BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 225 

get a glimpse of this enemy of our institutions 
will have been well and profitably invested if it 
causes them to rise in their might and send the 
American end of the conspiracy to its political 
grave. 

" ' There is no doubt whatever that the Roths 
child syndicate will make its bond holdings an ex- 
cuse to employ agents to influence nominating 
conventions that neither party shall designate a 
man for the Presidency who cannot be brought 
under the syndicate's influence. It is apparent 
that not a stone wiil be left unturned by Wall 
street and London to fasten upon the country at 
the next election an administration that is com- 
mitted in advance to the gold standard. Every 
move of the monometallists in this country and 
Europe indicates as much, and when once mono- 
metallism is firmly fastened about the necks of the 
people, Eastern and foreign capital will be the 
people's taskmaster. Farmers, mechanics, labor- 
ers — the common people — think they already 
have greater burdens than they can bear, 
but if these bond syndicates get control of the 
Government the people will have to make bricks 
without straw. As an eye-opener, therefore, the 
bonus paid the Rothschild combine is not too 
great if the people will act, now that their eyes 
are open.' " 

On April 28, 1894, Mr. Bryan editorially advo- 
cated the "initiative and referendum." Here are 
Mr. Bryan's words :— 



226 BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 

"The principle of the initiative and referendum 
is Democratic. It will not be opposed by any 
Democrat who indorses the declaration of Jeffer- 
son that the people are capable of self-govern- 
ment, nor will it be opposed by any Republican 
who holds to Lincoln's idea that this should be 
a Government of the people, by the people and 
for the people. It is the duty of every good 
citizen to endeavor to make the machinery of 
government as perfect as possible. 

" The anarchists in Chicago did not hold memo- 
rial services over the graves of those of their 
comrades who were executed for participating in 
the Haymarket riots. For seven years it has 
been their custom to hold exercises of this char- 
acter in Waldheim Cemetery, where the remains 
of their misguided friends are buried, but the di- 
rectors of the cemetery this year refused to per- 
mit it. It seems harsh to prohibit a tribute by the 
living to its beloved dead, but in this case the 
action of the directors was justifiable. These 
annual gatherings have not been those of genuine 
mourning, but the participants have used the 
place and occasion to teach their doctrines, and to 
stir up an animosity against the law and its 
officers. 

"Anarchy has no place in this country, either 
in the busy walks of life or in the quiet city of the 
dead. Anarchy is an enemy to peace, to society 
and to happiness. It is not to be tolerated in any 



BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 227 

country. Much less has It any cause for existence 
or toleration in this country, and its friends and 
devotees cannot use the sacredness of the grave 
as a means for spreading their unwholesome doc- 
trines and to stir up new strife against the law 
that accords to even the teachers of arson and assas- 
sination, a fair and impartial trial before a jury of 
their peers." 

When the Senate Investigating Committee was 
probing the Sugar Trust, President Havemeyer 
acknowledged under oath that the principal object 
of the trust was to control the price on output of 
sugar. Mr. Bryan privately sent a copy of this 
evidence to Mr. Olney, then attorney-general, but 
he got no reply. On September 7th, Mr. Bryan 
published an editorial, rehearsing Mr. Havemeyer's 
testimony and quoting the statute forbidding 
trusts. This is Mr. Bryan's summary of the 
matter : 

" A clear case would seem to be made out 
against the trust by the testimony of its President, 
which, be it said, is corroborated by the record of 
testimony in a suit brought in the United States 
Court by the North River Refining Company 
against the trust. Will Attorney-General Olney 
bring the officers of the trust to justice ? " 

Editor Bryan was strongly opposed to the mar- 
riage of rich American women to titled foreigners, 
and on November 3, 1895, said that the rearing 
of rich American girls in such a manner as to 



228 BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 

make them desire titled husbands was "a reflec- 
tion on the parents, who cultivated a love for aris- 
tocracy rather than a pride in American democ- 
racy." Mr. Bryan continued : 

" Our forefathers decided that titles were 
dangerous to liberty, and it is to be regretted 
that the patriotism of Revolutionary days has 
given place to a disgraceful scramble, among the 
daughters of some of our multi-millionaires, for 
lords and dukes and counts. 

" When an Englishman or Frenchman or other 
foreigner, with nothing to commend him but a 
title, inherited from a remote ancestor (and possi- 
bly only retained because it could not be pawned), 
reaches majority, he embarks for the United 
States and enters into negotiations for some mar- 
riageable heiress or heiress-apparent. Instead of 
teaching their daughters to regard with favor the 
suits of worthy sons of this country, too many 
ambitious parents lead their daughters into the 
market-place, and seek to barter a fortune for a 
crown. 

" Love may leap across the ocean and join in 
holy wedlock * two hearts that beat as one,' but 
social ambition and hereditary avarice can never 
weld two hearts into home-building material. 

"When Cupid becomes a boodler, and court- 
ship is carried on by brokers, marriage is a 
mockery. 

" It is significant that poor American girls, how- 



BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 229 

ever accomplished, have no charms for impecu- 
nious noblemen. It is also a source of congratu- 
lation that American sons do not seek foreign 
alliances. It is a shame that some American 
daughters do." 

Now that Mr. Bryan expects to live in the 
White House himself it is interesting to recall 
what he wrote on March 3 1 st, less than four months 
ago, on the subject of former presidents and a 
proposition to pension them. These are his 
words : 

" Ex-presidents ought to take care of them- 
selves as ordinary citizens do. If it should ever 
happen that one of our ex-presidents should be in 
need of public or private aid, said aid would be 
forthcoming. In recent years our presidents have 
retired in comfortable circumstances. Gen. Har- 
rison is earning fat fees at the bar, and his dignity 
does not suffer one bit because he is eating his 
bread in the perspiration of his gray matter. 
When Mr. Cleveland retires he will not be in im- 
mediate want. The several millions which he is 
credited with accumulating will help to keep the 
wolf from the door for a while, and whenever his 
reserve fund gets below one or two millions the 
people will help him out cheerfully. 

"This Government will attain more to the pur- 
pose of its founders when the notion that the 
j[7)ople owe their officials anything is entirely 
eradicated. To be Gurc. we owe the faithful 



230 BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 

official our appreciation and respect. We have 
paid him for his time, and he loses nothing in 
dignity if he steps from his official place to the ranks 
of the laborers. If he is broken down in health 
or should otherwise be unfortunate, the American 
people would not permit an ex-president to 
suffer." 

After the nomination of McKinley and Hobart, 
at St. Louis, Mr. Bryan editorially attacked Mr. 
Hobart and reprinted The Worlds criticism. Of 
Mr. McKinley he said : — 

" In selecting William McKinley as Its standard- 
bearer, the Republican party chose the strongest 
man within its ranks. He is a man of good char- 
acter and personally no objection can be urged 
against him. 

" It is amazing that a man for whom the people 
of this country entertain such a high regard as 
they do for Mr. McKinley would consent to be- 
come the standard-bearer of a cause that has 
brought upon us all of our woe, and the continu- 
ation of which will make prosperity impossible. 
But the people will vote for the measures, not 
men, this year, and Mr. McKinley, as the repre- 
sentative of an un-American measure, will go 
down to defeat." 

On January 14, 1895, the World- Herald con- 
tained an editorial from Mr. Bryan's pen on the 
subject of "vast wealth." He said : — 

'•It is possible for one citizen to injure another 



BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 231 

with a club or with a weapon, but that is not the 
only way. The gamblers on the Board of Trade 
may injure the farmer by decreasing the price of 
his grain, or they may injure the person who buys 
farm products by increasing the price. Whether 
their manipulations of the markets hurt the one 
class or the other they do an injury. Trusts crush 
out small competitors, and, then having a monop- 
oly, extort higher prices from purchasers. There 
are many indirect methods by which one person 
can injure another, methods by which one per- 
son virtually takes the property of another person 
without his consent. 

" If the Government properly restrains each 
citizen intent on wrong-doing and fully protects 
every citizen in the 'enjoyment of life, liberty and 
the pursuit of happiness,' many great fortunes 
will be prevented. 

"People may well ask themselves whether our 
form of government will stand an indefinite ag- 
gravadon of the tendency which has been observed 
for the last generation. Great inequality in wealth 
fosters social and political inequality and arouses 
class prejudices when great accumulations are 
found to arise from unjust legislation. 

"The main contention of some of our finan- 
ciers is, that we should so arrange our monetary 
system as to continually increase the investment 
of foreign capital among us. The World-Herald 
believes that it is better for the Government to 

14 



232 BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 

furnish a sufficient supply of money to do the 
business of the country, than to depend upon 
borrowing abroad and paying interest upon it. 

"There is an economy in exchanging that 
which we can produce at a low cost, for something 
which we can only produce here at a high cost. 
That is the principle which lies at the foundation 
of all commerce between individuals and between 
nations. But there can be no justification for a 
financial system in this country, built upon the 
theory, that the more money we borrow abroad, 
the better we are off, and which permits the sale 
of a few American securities in London to create 
a panic in this country." 

Mr. Bryan closed his editorial by declaring 
that the only remedy for our present financial ills, 
was independent and free coinage of silver, and 
the issue, by the Federal Government, of what- 
ever paper money is needed to preserve stability 
in the purchasing power of the dollar. 

In July, 1895, the Salvation Army was in trouble 
and Mr. Bryan wrote an editorial defending it. 
He said : 

"The Salvation Army is not a nuisance. It is 
'noisy,' but Satan is a rather noisy fellow himself, 
and no one can object if these people choose to 
' fight the devil with fire.' * * * If it is 'a 
noisy crowd,' the noise will never induce any man 
or woman to do wrong, and there are thousands 
of instances where this ' noise ' has induced many 



BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 233 

persons to quit their meanness. Such an organi- 
zation is entitled not only to respect, but to the 
earnest co-operation of every good citizen." 

On February 16, 1895, Mr. Bryan wrote this: — 

"The cry that the Democratic party is dead is 
the cry of the enemy, of the coward and of the 
traitor. The Democratic party is not dead, nor 
is it asleep. When the Democratic party dies 
Democratic principles will die, and in the same 
grave will be buried the hope of humanity, the 
incentive to work for a broader and better plan 
of existence and the power to go from strength 
to strength in advancing and maintaining liberty 
and freedom. The principles of Jefferson, of Jack- 
son and of Lincoln — the same — all are the heart 
and the soul of every government by and for the 
people that now is or ever will be ; and, more- 
over, they are the life-blood which courses 
through the arteries of liberty and makes the all- 
powerful agency in the mighty work of lifting 
mankind Godward. 

" Man may be born and man may go hence, 
and nations may be established and nations may 
be overthrown, but the principles of Democracy 
are of God and they must return to him bearing 
in their arms a perfect humanity. 

"The onward way of these principles has al- 
ways been and always will be more or less im- 
peded by the Judases of the world, but the right 
always prevails — the people triumph ultimately. 



234 BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 

It is true that the Democratic party — the custo- 
dian and proclaimer of these principles of human 
progress — is for the moment wrenched and torn 
by fierce onslaughts from daggers in the hands of 
members of its own household, who, like Bene- 
dict Arnold, were caught in the act of selling 
their fellows for British gold, but they have made 
their own graves deep and wide in the morasses 
of their own treachery, and there is no inclination 
anywhere to hinder the operations of the law of 
retribution." 

The last editorial written by Mr. Bryan ap- 
peared on July ist, nine days before he was nomi- 
nated. It was an answer to the charge made by 
the Atchison Globe that he had advised the peo- 
ple to always oppose the bankers. The follow- 
ing extract contains the germ of Mr. Bryan's 
argument : — 

" The banker is a man, nothing more, nothing 
less, and his opinions are entitled to all due con- 
sideration. But no man should permit another 
man to do his thinking for him. There are many 
bankers who are sincere and consistent bimetal- 
lists. There are others who are sincere gold 
bugs. There are some who advocate the single 
gold standard when they do not believe its pres- 
ervation will be beneficial to the country, but for 
reasons best known to themselves they adhere to 
the advocacy of that standard. 

"The opinions of all bankers are entitled to 



BRYAN AT ARLINGTON 235 

unusual consideration, because of their experience 
in financial matters, but the banker must be able 
to back up his opinion with logic. 

" Because the banker has had wide experience 
in money matters, is no reason that another man 
should believe the banker's mere statement that 
black is white, particularly when the other man 
knows that black is not white." 



CHAPTER X. 
BRYAN AS A LAWYER. 

William J. Bryan, the lawyer, has largely been 
obscured by the greater reputation which has been 
attained by the orator and as a student of govern- 
mental questions. His career as a lawyer is prac- 
tically confined to the period prior to his election 
to Congress the first time. As this, event occurred 
when he was just passed thirty years old, his 
achievements, and the demonstration of the pos- 
session of those qualities which go to make great 
lawyers, have been as conspicuous as his oppor- 
tunities permitted. 

Those lawyers who have had the best oppor- 
tunity to judge of his abilities in this direction say, 
that had his destiny not directed him into another 
channel, he would have taken his place as high in 
the ranks of the legal profession, as he has 
attained in the political arena. 

The influence, which his contact with Lyman 
Trumbull had upon the future professional career 
of Mr. Bryan, had been detected by some who 
were in a position to judge. With men posses- 
sing characters as strong as that of W. J. Bryan, it 
is doubtful if the influence of any association ever 
directs them into one path or another. Influences 

236 





'^ 


# 


> 




0^^ 




'fjmSI^^ 


.i 


^ 



Hon. CLAUDE MATTHEWS. 




Hon. ALEX. M. DOCKEK" 



BRYAN AS LAWYER 239 

of other strong minds, when brought into contact 
with them during the receptive period of earlier 
years, may remain with them in after years, but 
their province is more that of lights which show 
the surroundings, than that of pilots who select 
the routes. 

While pursuing his legal studies In Union Col- 
lege, W. J. Bryan occupied himself outside of 
recitation hours in the office of Lyman Trumbull, 
where such time as was not taken up with the 
minor duties imposed upon him was given to 
study. 

After graduating from the law school at the age 
of twenty-three, he commenced to practice in 
Jacksonville, 111., beginning at the bottom as young 
lawyers without influential connections must do. 
During the four years he lived in Jacksonville, he 
increased his professional income each year. 
After his removal to Lincoln, he was again a 
young lawyer, and one who had not made a repu- 
tation large enough to precede him to the new 
home in the West. Again, he had to commence 
over the work of building up a practice. Sur- 
rounded as he was by strangers, the first step was 
necessarily to make acquaintances and friends, out 
of whose ranks clients were afterwards to come. 
Again he saw his income from his law practice 
gradually increasing, until 1890, when he was 
elected to Congress. During his service of two 
terms in Congress, he did not practice, giving his 



240 BRYAN AS LAWYER 

whole time and attention to the questions which 
came up and to the business of the office to which 
he had been chosen. After his return from Con- 
gress at the close of his second term, it was his 
intention to at once take up the practice, but he 
found that this plan could not be carried out, on 
account of the demands made upon his time for 
speeches in different parts of the country, in be- 
half of the silver movement. In spite of the con- 
stant work and travel in the interests of the silver 
cause, several important cases involving questions 
of great interest were tried by him in the State 
Courts; the principal one of these was the Lincoln 
bond case, referred to in another place. 

During the time since his retirement from 
Congress, and while at work in the interest of the 
silver cause, Mr. Bryan has sometimes lectured 
before Chautauquas and other societies for stated 
sums, and at others a liberal allowance was made 
by communities in which he spoke to meetings. 
Sometimes there was no compensation received 
but his income from this source, which, together with 
his salary as editor of the Omaha World-Herald, 
was sufficient to support himself and family. 

His financial and professional success, when it 
is considered that he made two beginnings in 
seven years, each time as a young man among 
strangers, has been enough to demonstrate that 
he has the qualities which make successful 
lawyers. 



BRYAN AS LAWYER 241 

The only case which he carried to the United 
States Supreme Court was won by him. 

One of the cases of more than local impor- 
tance which Mr. Bryan carried to a successful issue 
in the State courts was the Lincoln bond case. In 
this, the city council sought to authorize the issue 
of a series of refunding bonds, with a proviso in- 
serted that the bonds should be payable in gold. 
The obnoxious clause had been inserted, or it was 
sought to be inserted, by the city council after the 
voters of the city had authorized a bond issue. 
The bond syndicate which had made a bid for the 
bonds demanded that the gold-payment clause be 
inserted. Mr. Bryan, as a citizen of Lincoln, in 
connection with others, joined in a petition to the 
State courts for an injunction restraining the city 
officials from issuing a gold bond as proposed. 
Mr. Bryan was the attorney for the petitioners and 
the court granted the injunction prayed for, 
making it perpetual. This case is regarded as 
of largely greater importance than the mere 
amount of half a million involved in the Lincoln 
city bonds would indicate. There were involved 
in it important and unsettled principles of consti- 
tutional law which were far reaching in their 
effects. Its determination against the city officials 
was one of the victories of the silver forces in the 
battle against the gold. This case was one in 
which there was no opportunity for the orator to 
win by swaying the jury, but, being an equity case, 



242 BRYAN AS LAWYER 

it was only on the application of cold logic, that 
would appeal to the judgment of the chancellor, 
that the attorney could depend for success. 

Two other cases of lesser importance, but in- 
volving governmental principles, tried by Mr. 
Bryan as attorney, consisted of one wherein the 
right of officers to refuse to serve papers in criminal 
cases without their fees being paid in advance, was 
questioned and settled in the negative. Another 
was where the right of a township to vote bonds 
to beet suear factories was combated and decided 
against any such issue. It is of interest to note 
that in these cases Bryan, the lawyer, appeared 
as the advocate of the rights of the many — of the 
people — as against the assumption of special 
rights, by the preferred class. 

The same impulses which have made him among 
political leaders conspicuous for his advocacy of 
the cause of the masses of the people dominated 
him as a lawyer. His friends, who were solicitous 
for his pecuniary success, noted this, and some of 
them sought to give well-meant advice against 
what they considered faulty business policy. 
Bryan, in his practice, congratulated himself 
whenever he was able to bring about a settlement 
without going into court and entailing the extra 
expense and sometimes bitter feelings which 
litigation brings about between neighbors and 
friends. On one occasion, when an old friend 
thoupfht to advise him that this was not the best 



BRYAN AS LAWYER 243 

policy, because his fees were smaller than if a 
fight in court had been carried on, he silenced 
the objector by saying that it would pay best in 
the long run, because these men would be happier 
and better citizens by reason of being friends 
instead of enemies, and then " they will be my 
friends, too." 

As a lawyer, his practice was general, covering 
nearly the whole range. The line was drawn at 
one place. He had no corporation practice. 
The natural bent of his mind, and perhaps his 
inclinations, are such as are supposed to distin- 
guish the jury practitioner from the equity 
lawyer. There are cases on the records in the 
State courts of Nebraska which show, that, al- 
though it was the opinion of W. J. Bryan's friends 
that he could make useful his powers of persuasive 
eloquence to more readily establish his stand- 
ing at the bar, he did not lack those other 
qualities which make a successful equity lawyer, 
— the best paid and generally conceded to be the 
highest type of the lawyer. In the Lincoln bond 
case, Mr. Bryan exhibited the grasp of the broad 
principles, and the intimate knowledge of the 
history of previous cases having bearing on the 
subject which only comes to the delver in musty 
books. This case was won besides upon a pre- 
sentation of the theories of the constitutional 
principle contended for with such clearness that 
the judges were convinced by the mastery of the 



^44 BRYAN AS LAWYER 

case displayed by the lawyer. This case was 
even to some of Mr. Bryan's friends the means 
of revealing qualities of mind which they had not 
given him credit for possessing. It was shown 
that as a lawyer, he did not have to depend alone 
upon the powers of persuasion and appeals to 
the emotions which mark the jury lawyer. While 
possessing in an imminent degree the faculty of 
doing this, he showed that the ordinarily-con- 
sidered incongruous branch of the profession, the 
equity practice, presented no closed doors against 
his entrance, but the gates flew open at his ap- 
proach as if to welcome one who by right can 
claim a place of honor within. As a jury lawyer, 
older citizens of Southern Nebraska have many 
vivid recollections of his triumphs by means of 
the same qualities of persuasive eloquence which 
have gained him fame in Congress, on the lecture 
platform and before excited political gatherings. 
An old friend and intimate acquaintance of Mr. 
Bryan's ascribed the success which met his prac- 
tice before juries to the fact that the lawyer was 
in close touch with the great body of the people ; 
knew what they thought about and how they are 
affected by a given condition or occurrence. As 
the juries are drawn from this mass of the common 
people, he always found himself before men whose 
every-day thoughts and feelings were as an open 
book to him. No time had to be lost in lawyer 
and jurors getting into sympathy with each other. 
A review of Mr. Bryan's legal life and analysis 



BRYAN AS LAWYER 245 

of his legal method and bent of mind has shown 
a curious likeness to that of Abraham Lincoln. 
While both coming from the people, depended 
largely upon their keeping in touch with the 
masses by constant association with those around 
them, while with both, this desire for social inter- 
course came from a cordial and real friendship for 
those around them, it was the source of greatest 
strength in professional battles. It can be safely 
said that Mr. Bryan has demonstrated that he is 
as strong a lawyer as ever was selected by the 
people as president, with the exception of Lin- 
coln and Benjamin H. Harrison. The achieve- 
ments of Lincoln and Bryan as lawyers, up to 
the time Lincoln arrived at Mr. Bryan's age, are 
so nearly on a par that the two might fittingly be 
said to run side by side. Great legal reputations 
have not been regarded as prime essentials in 
the selections of presidents, and the history of 
the country shows that but one really strong 
lawyer — who had a strong record before his elec- 
tion — has ever been honored with the presidency. 
Men who might have been strong lawyers if their 
time and attention had not been taken up with 
governmental affairs and other questions, the 
mastery of which required as fine a quality of 
mind, have been presidents. Benjamin Harrison 
is the sole representative of the lawyer who was 
recognized by the profession, and had made a 
reputation as a great lawyer before election to 
the office of chief magistrate of the union. 



CHAPTER XL 

BRYAN AS AN ORATOR. 

Bryan is an orator of the people. Earnest- 
ness, simplicity and beauty are the chief character- 
istics of his style. The subject upon which he 
would speak is thoroughly studied in all its bear- 
in es. The best that has been written or said 
upon it is examined and re-examined, if neces- 
sary, until it is mastered. Nor is the investiga- 
tion confined to the side of the question to which 
he is predisposed ; every conceivable objection to 
the position he favors is looked for and 
thoroughly studied in the light of the strongest 
thought of its ablest advocates. Having digested 
with the utmost minuteness all that can be said 
for or against his position, he then selects from 
the mass the most forceful thoughts on both sides 
of the question. This done, he then looks for 
language suitable to express them. Long, in- 
volved sentences will not do; unusual words must 
not be employed ; the thought which burns witliin 
the mind and would impress itself upon the hearts 
of others must not have any of its strength im- 
paired or its beauty dimmed by the language se- 
lected to convey it. The simplest words are 
chosen and they are formed into short, pithy 

246 



BRYAN AS ORATOR 247 

sentences. No word Is used solely for its sound; 
the mere jingle of words has no place in the 
mental workshop of our orator. To him words 
are the servants of thought, and take their real 
beauty from the thought that blazes through 
them. From this let it not be concluded that he 
undervalues the importance of the best literary 
style. His style is as pure and captivating as 
that of Irving, or Addison, and not dissimilar to 
either. But style, with him, as with those two 
great masters, is valued not for itself, but because 
it conveys in the most pleasing manner the 
thoughts which he would have others know. 
Here are some of his sentences culled from dif- 
ferent speeches: 

They call that man a statesman whose ear is tuned to catch 
the slightest pulsations of a pocketbook, and to denounce as 
a demagogue anyone who dares to listen to the heart-beat of 
humanity. ***** 

The poor man who takes property by force is called a thief, 
but the creditor who can by legislation make a debtor pay a 
dollar twice as large as he borrowed is lauded as the friend of 
a sound currency. The man who wants the people to destroy 
the government is an anarchist, but the man who wants the 
government to destroy the people is a patriot. * * * 

Some who are ready to use the power of the government to 
limit the supply of money, in order to prevent injustice to the 
creditor, are slow to admit the right of the government to in- 
crease the currency when necessary to prevent injustice to the 
debtor. I denounce the cruel interpretation of governmental 
power which would grant the authority to starve, but would 
withhold the authority to feed our people — which would per- 



248 BRYAN AS ORATOR 

mit a contraction of our currency, even to the destruction of 
all prosperity, but would prohibit the expansion of our cur- 
rency to keep pace with the growing needs of a growing 
nation i * * * * * 

The gentlemen who are so fearful of socialism when the 
poor are exempted from an income tax, view with indifference 
those methods of taxation which give the rich a substantial 
exemption. They weep more because $15,000,000 is to be 
collected from the incomes of the rich than they do at the 
collection of $300,000,000 upon the goods which the poor 
consume. And when an attempt is made to equalize these 
burdens, not fully, but partially only, the people of the south 
and west are called anarchists. I deny the assertion, sir. It 
is among the people of the south and west, on the prairies and 
in the mountains, tiiat you hnd the staunchest supporters of 
government and the besi friends of law and order. You may 
not find among these pe(jple the great fortunes which are ac- 
cumulated in cities, nor will you find the dark shadows which 
these fortunes throw over the community, but you will find 
those willing to protect the rights of property, even while they 
demand the property shall bear its share of taxation. You 
may not find among them as much of wealth, but you will 
find men who are not only willing to pay their taxes to sup- 
port the government, but are willing whenever necessary to 
offer up their lives in its defense. These people, sir, whom 
you call anarchists because they ask that the burdens of gov- 
ernment shall be equally borne, these people have ever borne 
the cross on Calvary and saved their country with their 
blood. ***** 

I may be in error, but in my humble judgment he who 
would rob man of his necessary food or pollute the springs at 
which he quenches his thirst, or steal away from him his 
accustomed rest, or condemn his mind to the gloomy night 
of ignorance, is no more an enemy of his race than the man 
who, deaf to the entreaties of the poor and blind and the 
suffering he would cause. s^eUs to destroy '^ne cif the money 



BRYAN AS ORATOR 249 

metals given by the Almighty to supply the needs of com- 



merce. 



* * * 



The line of battle is laid down. The President's letter to 
•jovernor Northern expresses his oppostion to the free and 
mlimited coinage of silver by this country alone. Upon that 
issue the next congressional contest will be fought. Are we 
dependent or independent as a nation ? Shall we legislate for 
ourselves or shall we beg some foreign nation to help us pro- 
vide for the financial wants of our own people ? * * * 

You may think that you have buried the cause of bimetal- 
lism ; you may congratulate yourselves that you have laid the 
free coinage of silver away in a sepulchre, newly made since 
the election, and before the door rolled the veto stone. But, 
sirs, if our cause is just, as I believe it is, your labor has been 
in vain ; no tomb was ever made so strong that it could im- 
prison a righteous cause. Silver will yet lay aside its grave 
clothes and its shroud. It will yet rise, and in its rising and 
its reign will bless mankind. * * * 

Alexander "wept for other worlds to conquer" after he 
had carried his victorious banner throughout the then known 
world. Napoleon "re-arranged the map of Europe with his 
sword " amid the lamentations of those by whose blood he 
was exalted ; but when these and other military heroes are for- 
gotten and their achievements disappear in the cycle's sweep 
of years, children will still lisp the name of Jefferson, and 
freemen will ascribe due praise to him who filled the kneeling 
subject's hearts with hope and bade him stand erect a sov- 
ereign among his peers. * * * h» 

The State of Indiana has declared that no police power 
skall be conferred on the Pinkerton detectives ; and if the 
people of the State of New York do not desire such powers 
to be conferred upon them, it is the business of the State of 
New York, or any other State which entertains that view, to 
regulate it by its own legislative enactment. It is not within 
the purview of Congress, it is not the business of Congress to 
interfere with the police powers of the several States of the 
16 



250 BRYAN AS ORATOR 

union. I believe that the time has come when we ought to 
pjquarely draw the line between the powers conferred 
upon the federal government and those reserved to the States, 
and that we ought to stop this indiscriminate investigation 
where we clearly have no power to legislate. * * * 

I have been opposed to the issuing of money by national 
banks, for the reason that this function of government should 
not be surrendered to any corporation or any private concern 
whatever. On the same ground I am opposed to the States 
authorizing private corporations to issue money, or so-called 
money. 

Mr. Bryan is not averse to the employment of 
the thoughts of others wherever they add force 
and attractiveness to the argument in hand. Ac- 
cordingly, we find his speeches interspersed with 
quotations from some of the best writers in prose 
and poetry, but in each instance the quotation has 
a natural fitness for the place in which it is found. 
No straining of the lines of the argument is per- 
mitted that the quotation may find a place. 
There are some productions which pass for ora- 
tory that are mere mechanisms — the offspring 
of minds cold and plodding without a ray of 
genius to illumine their path. In them, words 
have been dragged together in the vain hope of 
producing a flower worthy to be laid at the feet 
of oratory, but they are as painted leaves, they 
are without the odor of life. The work of genius 
springs spontaneously from the depths of a heart 
ruled by purity — "Genius sees by intuition, illus- 
trates by pictures, and speaks in music. The 



BRYAN AS ORATOR 251 

phraseology in which its sentiments are clothed 
is not a kind of patch-work laboriously tagged 
together, but is part and parcel of the thought, 
and is born mature and splendid, like Minerva 
glittering from the brow of Jove." 

Briefly we have sketched the mere outlines of 
the work employed by Mr. Bryan in the prepara- 
tion of his great deliverances in behalf of human 
ri2:hts. First, he masters the whole field of arcru- 
ment, and thus he prepares himself not only to 
prove the correctness of his own position, but to 
meet every objection that may be offered against 
it. He is enabled, too, by this means to state 
correctly the position of his opponent. Not a 
litde of his force in debate is due to the fact that 
he states with absolute fairness the argument of 
his adversary, and then, with crushing effect, hurls 
against it the clean-cut, well-considered, over- 
whelming reply. His care in arranging the matter 
which he has gathered is no less than that employed 
in the gathering. By this means he has everything 
in its place, subject to his instant command, and 
when sent forth on its mission of truth, goes with 
a force that carries conviction. The most accept- 
able language is chosen, and so clear and simple 
do the most profound thoughts appear when they 
come fresh-coined from his brain, that men have 
no difficulty in comprehending them in all their 
force. This power was noted by a critical ob- 
server of one of the debates in which Mr. Bryan 



252 BRYAN AS ORATOR 

engaged when a candidate for Congress. The 
observer was asked what kind of an argument 
Mr. Bryan's opponent made. He replied that the 
argument was very good, but its strength was 
obscured by involved and awkward sentences, 
and most listeners could not comprehend it when 
delivered. On the other hand, Mr. Bryan's argu- 
ment, he continued, came forth in lanorua^e so 
simple and pleasing that the listener had not to 
hesitate for a moment to grasp its full force, and 
thus the orator carried along with him a convinced 
as well as an enthusiastic audience. Superficial 
observers have spoken of this feature of Mr. 
Bryan's style as "catchy," and frequently have 
they said that while he might charm a " common 
country audience " by what they termed " catch 
words," he would fail utterly when he came to 
address "men of culture." But these critics did 
not recognize in the simplicity of his work the 
hand of genius, and they have lived to see their 
anticipations dashed to atoms. Twice the lower 
house of Congress was enraptured by Mr. Bryan's 
luminous powers of eloquence. The morning 
after his great tariff speech the nation awoke to 
hail him as the peer of Webster or Prentice. A 
few years later he discussed the financial question 
before the same body only to win a repetition of 
the plaudits which greeted the close of his tariff 
speech. The next day, and for weeks thereafter, 
the press of the nation gave him unstinted praise 



BRYAN AS ORATOR 253 

and crowned him one of America's greatest 
orators. 

But all his work would accomplish but little if 
not presided over by " a mind stamped with the 
patent of Divinity" and acting in the glow of a 
heart throbbing with the noblest and purest im- 
pulses. Nor does the great care employed by 
Mr. Bryan in the preparation of his speeches 
make him an orator. Preparation does not enable 
him to sway the minds of others and place in 
them impressions that live. It is something else. 
It is a power equalled by few and excelled by 
none. It comes from an unseen hand — the hand 
of God — and is entrusted to him for noble ends. 

" There's a charm in deliv'ry, a magical art, 

That thrills like a kiss, from the lip to the heart; 

'Tis the glance — the expression — the well-chosen word — 

By whose magic the depths of the spirit are stirr'd — 

The smile — the mute gesture — the soul-stirring pause — 

The eye's sweet expression, that melts while it awes — 

The lip's soft persuasion — its musical tone; 

Oh ! such were the charms of that eloquent one ! " 

In personal appearance as well as in mental 
gifts, Mr. Bryan is highly favored. Before he 
utters a word, his presence wins for him the favor 
of his audience. Simplicity itself rules his de- 
livery and bearing, but it is a simplicity in which 
the highest art wears all the graces of nature. 
As he stands before his audience, he presents a 



254 BRYAN AS ORATOR 

striking picture ; every feature of his strong face 
is instinct with intelligence ; his eyes dance with 
the ligfht of a soul on fire as he marches throug^h 
the depths of his discourse, pleading for the rights 
of the poor and of the masses. He "illustrates in 
his own person the ancient apologue of the youth- 
ful Hercules, in the pride and strength of beauty, 
surrendering his own soul to the worship of 
human rights and exalted virtue in public places," 
He commences in a soft, pleasant, conversa- 
tional tone; instantly your attention is riveted 
upon him ; or rather upon what he has to say. 
You have little disposition to study either the 
man or his manner — his thought is what holds 
you. Nothing occurs either in tone, posture, or 
gesture to divert your attention, or break the 
spell that is upon you, Every movement of arm, 
head and body, every modulation comes as an in- 
separable part of the thought he is expressing. 
Your eyes are fastened upon the orator: as he 
moves, you in spirit move with him ; as he ad- 
vances to his climax the listener advances with him ; 
not a step is missed, not a break occurs; in per- 
fect harmony orator and audience travel over the 
path of thought until the climax is reached and 
then, as the last tone of the deep, rich, melodious 
voice of the orator is uttered with a dramatic 
force which thrills every fiber, there breaks forth 
the full, earnest, uproarious applause that marks 
the approval and admiration of those who listen. 




Hon. HORACE BOIES. 



BRYAN AS ORATOR 257 

The hand of the orator is raised, instantly perfect 
silence follows. The sweet tones of that marvel- 
ous voice are again heard by every one within 
the enclosure, no matter how vast. Under the 
influence of that voice and the magic of words that 
convey the thought of a master mind, men sit en- 
raptured and applaud sentiments which but a 
moment before they ridiculed; they came to 
scoff, but remain to worship. 

It has been said in describing the auditor under 
the influence of the orator's power, " He is thrilled 
in every nerve, he is agitated with rapture. He 
blends all his emotions with the speaker, and is 
subdued or inspired under his power. He soon 
becomes stripped of all defence, and willingly ex- 
posed to every blow, so that the greatest effects 
are produced by the slightest words adroitly di- 
rected and skillfully expressed." That this exactly 
portrays the auditor sitting under the influence of 
Mr. Bryan's orations will not be denied by those 
who have listened to his orreatest efforts. Mr. 
Bryan never delivers a poor speech ; he always 
pleases, but to reach those heights of impassioned 
eloquence which none but a master dares to tread, ' 
he must have the occasion and the subject. " It is ' 
only when God's creative breath fans the fires of j 
patriotism in the soul sublimely endowed, that a 
true orator is fashioned for sovereignty over the 
hearts of mankind," If the highest oratory con- 
sists in the power to persuade and the force to 



258 BRYAN AS ORATOR 

chain In the blazing fires of the purest enthusiasm 
the intellects of men, then Mr. Bryan is an orator 
with few peers in ancient or modern times. Well 
we may say of him what the great Fenelon says 
of Demosthenes : " He moves, warms and capti- 
vates the heart. He was sensibly touched with 
the interests of his country. His discourses grad- 
ually increase in force, by greater light and new 
reasons, which are always illustrated by bold fig- 
ures and lively images. One cannot but see that 
he has the good of the Republic entirely at heart, 
and that nature itself speaks in all his transports." 
There is much in Mr. Bryan's oratory that re- 
calls Demosthenes, Fox, O'Connell and Fisher 
Ames, but unlike any of them he never indulges 
in invective. Search his speeches through, whether 
in Congress, before the Convention, or on the 
stump, and you will find them absolutely free from 
personalities. Methods and classes he may de- 
nounce ; individuals never. No audience ever 
sat within the sound of his most fervid utterances 
and caught a word that would appeal to the lower 
passions of anger, hate or revenge. The intellect, 
and the purer, higher affections of the human 
heart present the only field in which he loves to 
labor. He Is always a master of himself. The 
noblest passions may surge and fiercely burn 
within his breast, but they are like the fires of 
the volcano, confined within the snow-capped 
mountain. 



BRYAN AS ORATOR 259 

Many liave constructed arguments as logical as 
Mr. Bryan. Nor would it be difficult, perhaps, to 
find speeches of equal depth and bold imagery to 
those delivered by him, but this is true of all the 
great tribunes of the people. Quintilius says, 
"Logicians can be found everywhere, an able ar- 
gument is not rare, but seldom has that orator ap- 
peared whose eloquence could carry the judge 
out of his depth, who could throw him into what 
disposition of mind he pleased, fire him into re- 
sentment, or soften him into tears. Many have 
constructed arcruments as loorical as those of 
Demosthenes, or Cicero, but none ever arrayed 
them before their audiences with such magic 
power." 

One of Bryan's best speeches was that on the 
subject " Money," in which he gave his famous 
apostrophe to Jefferson. It is as follows : 

" There are wrongs to be righted ; there are 
evils to be eradicated ; there is injustice to be re- 
moved ; there is good to be secured for those who 
toil and wait. In this fight for equal laws we can- 
not fail, for right is mighty and will in time triumph 
over all obstacles. Even if our eyes do not be- 
hold success, we know that our labor is not in 
vain, and we can lay down our weapons, happy in 
the promise given by Bryant to the soldier : 

" ' Yea, though thou He upon the dust, 

When they who helped thee flee in fear 



26o BRYAN AS ORATOR 

Die full of hope and manly trust, 
Like those who fell in battle here. 

"'Another hand thy sword shall wield; 
Another hand the standard wave; 
Till from the trumpet's mouth is pealed 
The blast of triumph o'er thy grave.' 

"Let us then with the courage of Andrew Jack- 
son, apply to present conditions the principles 
taught by Thomas Jefferson — Thomas Jefferson, 
the greatest constructive statesman whom the 
world has ever known ; the grandest warrior who 
ever battled for human liberty ! He quarried 
from the mountain of eternal truth the four pil- 
lars, upon whose strength all popular government 
must rest. In the Declaration of American Inde- 
pendence he proclaimed the principles with which 
there is, without which there cannot be ' a govern- 
ment of the people, by the people, and for the 
people.' When he declared that ' all men are 
created equal ; that they are endowed by their 
Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that 
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness; that to secure these rights govern- 
ments are instituted among men, deriving their 
just powers from the consent of the governed,' 
he declared all that lies between the Alpha and 
Omega of Democracy. 

" Alexander ' wept for other worlds to conquer * 
after he had carried his victorious banner through- 



BRYAN AS ORATOR - 261 

out the then known world. Napoleon * rearranged 
the map of Europe with his sword ' amid the 
lamentations of those by whose blood he was 
exalted ; but when these and other military heroes 
are forgotten and their achievements disappear in 
the cycle's sweep of years, children will still lisp 
the name of Jefferson, and freemen will ascribe 
due praise to him who filled the kneeling subject's 
heart with hope and bade him stand erect — a 
sovereign among his peers." 



CHAPTER XII. 
BRYAN AT HOME. 

In a country where no man is born to authority, 
but where each must acquire place through his 
own achievements, it is inevitable that the private 
life of public men should be closely scrutinized. 
This country has never ceased to be a democracy 
in spite of the efforts of some of its worst ene- 
mies, and in a democracy the good citizen is the 
bulwark. The American people still believe that 
a man who does not fulfill his obligations to the 
community as a good husband and father, and an 
honorable man of business, can not be fit to ad- 
minister the highest office in the gift of the peo- 
ple. Moreover, this is a country where the sen- 
timent of women counts for much, and the influ- 
ence of women is frankly acknowledged. The 
home-life of a man, and those who make his 
home-life, have much to do, it is maintained, with 
his success. 

Mr. Bryan has been very fortunate. Twelve 
years ago he married a sensible and lovely wo- 
man, who has made it easy for him to remain the 
domestic man that he is. What has been the 
duty of many men, has been his pleasure. Home 
is and always has been, the fairest spot on earth 

262 



BRYAN AT HOME 263 

to him, and he is to be congratulated as much as 
praised for his unswerving- fidehty to it. 

Concerning Mr. Bryan's devotion to his home, 
the eulogistic language he himself used in speak- 
ing of the happy home of a colleague is entirely 
appropriate : 

" He found his inspiration at his fireside, and 
approached the ideal in his domestic life. He 
and his faithful wife, who was both his helpmeet 
and companion, inhabited as tenants in common 
that sacred spot called home, and needed no court 
to define their relative rights and duties. The 
invisible walls which shut in that home and shut 
out all else had their foundations upon the earth 
and their batdements in the skies. No force 
could break them down, no poisoned arrows could 
cross their top, and at the gates thereof love and 
confidence stood ever upon guard." 

Mrs. Wm. J. Bryan was Mary Elizabeth Baird. 
Her father, John Baird, was born in Northampton 
county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Baird is of Scotch- 
Irish descent. There Is a record of his ancestry 
running back at least thirteen generations, which 
reveals many men and women of more than or- 
dinary ability, all of whom have taken, as even 
those of the last generation may take, pride in the 
fact that not a taint has ever rested upon that 
good family name. Mr. Baird moved west in 
1838 and in 1852 was married to the daughter of 
Col. Darius Dexter of Dexterville, New York. 



264 BRYAN AT HOME 

Mr. Baird located at Perry, Illinois ; and here on 
the 17th day of June, 1861, Mary was born. 

In those days Perry was a trading-post of quite 
a large territory. Mr. Baird engaged with a 
partner in an extensive business which comprised, 
in the earlier days, a general store — a shoe-shop, 
harness-shop, pork-packing house and a general 
grain and shipping business. This firm did quite 
an extensive business in shipments to the city of 
St. Louis, using the river steamboats for trans- 
portation. Mr. Baird was a gentleman of 
scholarly instincts and a great reader. Although 
a very busy man, he became the companion of his 
daughter who was his only child, and he related 
to her the stories of the Iliad and Odyssey and of 
Greek mythology at the time when the little girl 
could not read them for herself. Mr. Baird was 
himself a self-educated man, and he appreciated 
the great value of a thorough education ; conse- 
quendy, he devoted his best energies to making a 
perfect woman, intellectually, of his beloved child. 

Mrs. Bryan's mother was an invalid and upon 
the daughter rested a great deal of the care of 
her mother. Mrs. Bryan attended the High 
School at Perry, and at the age of sixteen went 
to Monticello Seminary at Godfrey, Illinois, re- 
maining there for one year, but on account of the 
serious condition of her mother's health she found 
it necessary to be nearer home and in the follow- 
ing year entered the Presbyterian Academy at 



BRYAN AT HOME 265 

Jacksonville, from which institution ahe was 
graduated in 1881 with the first honors of her 
class. 

While Miss Baird was attending the Presby- 
terian Academy at Jacksonville, Mr. Bryan was a 
student at the Illinois College in the same city. 
The two young people first met at a reception in 
the Academy parlors. A very pretty story has 
been going the rounds to the effect that Miss 
Baird heard Mr. Bryan recite " A Soldier of the 
Legion," and was captivated with him. The story^ 
however, is without foundation. The fact is that 
the young people met at this college reception 
and they fell in love with one another just as two 
good-looking and sensible people would be ex- 
pected to do, and at the time Miss Baird had 
never detected the fire of oratory in her young 
lover and did not know that he could even deliver 
" Casabianca" with more than ordinary effect until 
long after their first meeting. The young people 
were engaged for a period covering a little more 
than four years. During the year preceding their 
marriage, Mr. Bryan practised law in Jacksonville. 
The young man had already built up a paying 
practice and the young lovers planned and built 
their first home before they were married, and on 
October i, 1884, the marriage ceremony took 
place and they began housekeeping in their own 
home. This house stands to-day on College Hill 
in Jacksonville, near the Illinois College. Mr. 



266 BRYAN AT HOME 

Bryan continued the practice of law in Jackson- 
ville for three years after his marriage. On 
October 2, 1885, their first child, Ruth, was born. 

In 1887 they removed to Nebraska, Mr. Bryan 
feeling that in the stirring West was more oppor- 
tunity for success. Mrs. Bryan agreed with him. 
From the first she liked the West and made her- 
self perfecdy at home at Lincoln. She took up 
the study of the law, desiring to fit herself for the 
consideration of legal questions, not with any ex- 
pectation of practising herself, but that she might 
be of assistance to her husband, and also that she 
might have the mental training resultant from such 
study. 

The Bryans have now three children, Ruth, who 
is nearly eleven, William, who is seven, and Grace, 
who is five. All of the children are comely, well 
behaved, well taught, and very dearly beloved. 
In short, the home of the Bryans is the simple 
American home. Mrs. Bryan, who has never 
been a society woman, spends the early part of 
her evenings reading to her children. They have 
always received her direct personal care. Her 
responsibilities have not been light in any respect. 
Besides her young children, she has had her aged 
father and mother with her, and her affection 
for them has been such that she has been closely 
kept at home. Her mother is now dead, but her 
father remains, and he receives her solicitous 
care. 



BRYAN AT HOME 267 

Mrs. Bryan has a singular activity of mind. 
She is logical, studious, industrious and aspiring. 
Above all, she is sensible. She has kept in touch 
with each detail of her husband's advancement 
in a political Vv^ay. She knows the political situa- 
tion and all the minutiae of local political affairs ac- 
curately, giving them their due importance, and 
regarding them in a philosophic manner. She 
has been a faithful critic to her husband, assisting 
in the collection of material for his speeches, and 
giving him the benefit of her advice. She has 
been his closest confidante, and, probably, his 
most trusted adviser. Hers is not a mind to be 
swayed by prejudice. She is not given to undue 
enthusiasm. In short, she is possessed of that 
poise which makes her one of the safest of com- 
panions for a man of affairs, who is about to be 
plunged into a historic campaign. 

Mrs. Bryan has maintained her democratic 
principles in her household, where intelligent 
liberty prevails. The children are directed, but 
not tyrannized over. She does not believe in 
doing anything likely to destroy their individuality. 
In religion her children are taught reverence, tol- 
erance and devotion. She has tried to teach them 
that it is a sacred duty to do the best they can 
with their lives. To educate, not to coerce, is 
Mrs. Bryan's simple policy. 

The home of the Bryans is substantial, hospi- 
table and well-kept. Within, one Is greeted by an 

16 



268 BRYAN AT HOME 

atmosphere of unpretentious comfort, simple cor- 
diality and unaffected refinement. The rooms are 
quiedy and comfortably furnished. Pictures, 
books, statuettes, souvenirs of certain historic oc- 
casions in their lives, mementoes of disdnguished 
persons, and gifts from admirers compose what 
is precious in the house. In the library there is a 
double desk, one side of which belongs to Mr. 
Bryan and one to his wife. Here they work 
together in their quiet hours. At times this 
happy intimacy has filled them with a sort of 
dread. 

" I am not so sure I like this desk," she once 
said. " What should I do with it if you were to 
leave this life before I do ? I sometimes wonder 
if it is not dangerous for two lives to be so bound 
together. How could one bear parting after such 
association as this ? " 

Mrs. Bryan js an honest student of good litera- 
ture. She is one of the organizers of " Sorosis," 
one of the women's study clubs, and she holds 
its highest office. She is a prominent worker in 
the Nebraska State Federation of Women's Clubs, 
and one of a committee which has in charge the 
traveling library of that association. Among club 
women she has won no litde reputation for her 
work. She can speak extemporaneously on any 
subject in which she is interested, in a calm, con- 
cise, telling manner. She will never speak for 



BRYAN AT HOME 269 

the sake of speaking, or upon a subject with which 
she is unacquainted. 

Mrs, Bryan's attire is always very simple. She 
wears only quiet colors, usually browns or greys. 
But her costumes are becoming and effective. She 
always appears to be a well-dressed woman ; that 
is to say, no one ever thinks about her clothes at 
all. They are in such good taste that they are 
not observed. She has a sense of propriety in 
dress, and always wears what is suitable to the 
occasion. She would always dress with modest 
propriety, just as she always speaks with modest 
propriety. Even these few sentences have laid 
more stress upon her toilet than she ever did. 

Mrs. Bryan is sociable to a degree, and heartily 
enjoys meeting people. She is far too wholesome 
to have any of the affectations of a recluse. But 
a purely fashionable society would never please 
her. She would feel the need, always, in her 
social relations, for intelligent conversation. Any 
society which did not give her this would be dis- 
tasteful to her. She would be impatient with a 
society which stood for competition in luxury, or 
in which pretention was conspicuous. Moreover, 
her nature is too affectionate, and she is too fond 
of real friendship, to endure the shallow relations 
of fashionable society. 

She has been present at all of her husband's 
greatest forensic triumphs. When Mr. Bryan, in 
the beginning of his Congressional career, made 



270 BRYAN AT HOME 

his famous tariff speech, she listened from the 
o-alleries. She was present at the Chicago Con- 
vention when he turned the tide and made an 
epoch in his party. She sat on the stand when he 
received his nomination, and showed her profound 
o-ratification only with a few quiet tears. Through- 
out all the tremendously exciting scenes of that 
day she was one of the calmest persons in the 
house. When she joined him at the Clifton House, 
where he received the news of his nomination, a 
silent kiss expressed her congratulations. She 
probably was not in the least surprised. From 
the first she had felt perfect confidence in his 
ability. It would not be in her to be surprised at 
having her judgment confirmed. 

Mrs. Bryan is comely. Her face is pale, well 
modeled and placid. It resembles that of her 
husband in some respects. At least, it gives a 
similar suggestion of strength and purity. It is 
the face of a sensible and affectionate woman ; 
and it is typically American. 

Mr. Bryan has been very fortunate, and he has 
shown his appreciation of his blessings in the 
best way possible, by unfaltering devotion. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SPEECH IN THE HOUSE OF REPRE- 
SENTATIVES. 

February 27, 1894. 

The House being in Committee of the Whole and having under con- 
sideration the bill (H. R. 4956) directing the coinage of silver bullion 
held in the Treasury, and for other purposes, Mr. Bryan said : 

Mr. Chairman: The House has been so kind to 
me on previous occasions that I shall not trespass 
long upon its patience, having reserved for myself 
only twenty-two minutes ; but I desire to submit a 
few remarks in connection with this bill. I do 
not feel as some of our friends have expressed 
themselves toward our Eastern Democrats who 
fail to vote with us upon this question, or to vote 
at all. 

This is not so much a conflict between men as 
it is a conflict between ideas. It has presented 
itself in various forms at different times, and we 
may expect it to present itself again, and I have 
no words of censure for those of our brethren 
who, from the importance of the subject, in their 
judgment, feel justified in refusing to vote. 

Nor do I agree with those who would invoke 
the rule which prevailed in the Fifty-first Congress 
271 



2^72 SPEECH IN THE HOUSE 

of counting a quorum in order to reach a vote. I 
believe it is the duty of the Representative to 
protect his constituents and to represent their 
interests upon this floor; and if the crisis is such 
that in his judgment he can best protect his people 
by refusing to vote, I do not criticise him for ex- 
ercising that right. 

{ For one hundred years or more it was the 
unbroken rule in this House that when the 
minority thought it of sufficient importance they 
might, by refusing to vote, compel those in favor 
of the pending proposition to bring in a majority 
of all of the members elected in order to pass the 
bill. To my mind that is a safeguard. Any other 
rule is invoked not in the interest of a majority 
government, but in the interest of a minority gov- 
ernment ; and one of the reasons why I feel called 
upon to criticise that rule is that it was invoked in 
the Fifty-first Congress for partisan purposes, in- 
voked by those who denied its application when 
they were in the minority, and who in my judg- 
ment made better arguments when they were 
opposing the rule than they were able to make 
when they adopted the rule afterward. If we 
bring the members into this House and have a 
majority in favor of the bill, we do not need to 
count a quorum. If we have not a majority in 
favor of the bill, then we have no assurance that 
the majority of the people of the country, repre- 




Hon. ARTHUR SEWALL 




GROVER CLEVELAND. 



SPEECH IN THE HOUSE 275 

sented by a majority of the members upon this 
floor, are in favor of that bill. 

I believe we had better stand by the old rule ; 
and if the minority believe that there is sufficient 
justification, let them compel a majority to concur 
in legislation. We do it in our States. Perhaps 
three-fourths of the States of the Union provide 
in their constitutions that no bill can become a law 
until a majority of all the members elected have 
expressed tnemselves in the affirmative by a yea- 
and-nay vote ; and, according to my judgment, it 
would be better for Congress if we had the same 
constitutional provision, and it was impossible to 
pass a law unless a majority expressed assent 
upon a yea-and-nay vote. It would make men 
stay here and attend to their business; if we count 
a quorum, it allows persons to be absent while the 
business goes on all the same. Instead of hav- 
ing the intelligence and judgment of all the peo- 
ple represented here to do the legislative work, 
we simply have the intelligence and the judgment 
of a majority of them when we count a quorum, 
and important measures may be passed by a mi- 
nority of the members elected. It is true a mi- 
nority may enact laws if a quorum votes, but 
under our new rules now the minority have it in 
their power to compel the concurrence of a major- 
ity, and it is too valuable a right to relinquish. 

But I do not wish to speak longer upon this 
phase of the question. As I said, it is a conflict 



276 SPEECH IN THE HOUSE 

of ideas. We have the Eastern idea of finances 
proposed here, and it is antagonized by the ideas 
of the West and South. You may make fun of 
the West and South if you like. You may say 
that their people are not financiers. You may, 
even in your private conversation, deny to them 
the right to express views. You may belittle 
their judgment if you like; but these people have 
just as much right to express their ideas and to 
guard their interests as you have to guard yours, 
and their ideas are as much entitled to considera- 
tion as yours. Most of those who are opposed to 
this bill favor the gold standard. They may call 
it bimetallism if they like. They may say, as the 
gentleman from New York (Mr, Hendrix) said 
the other day, that he believed in bimetallism, but 
that (in bimetallism) gold will be the standard. 

If, sir, that is the idea of some of those who ad- 
vocate bimetallism, if they want it on a gold basis, 
I desire to say that there are bimetallists here 
who do not understand the meaning of the term 
in that way. We must choose between bimetal- 
lism and gold monometallism, and we might as 
well meet the question now. We have had it 
illustrated on a recent occasion by the treasury 
department when we were told that gold is the 
only real money, and must be paid when de- 
manded. In order to get gold, bonds were issued, 
and just see what a ridiculous and absurd thing 
occurred in the attempt to get that gold. During 



SPEECH IN THE HOUSE 277 

the time that those bonds were being sold and 
paid for, those who wanted to buy the bonds drew 
out gold on treasury notes. I have a letter from 
the treasurer showing that between the first of 
February and the twentieth of February they pre- 
sented ^18,641,855 United States notes and treas- 
ury notes, and drew gold out of the treasury. 
Nearly one-third of the gold brought in by the 
bonds was drawn out to pay for them or to re- 
plenish the vaults. That this enormous with- 
drawal of gold from the treasury was to obtain 
the gold with which to buy the bonds issued for 
the purpose of drawing gold into the treasury is 
evident from the fact that during the entire month 
of December, 1893, only $506,638 in gold were 
withdrawn by the presentation of such notes, and 
during the month of January, 1894. only 5^356,1 21, 
while less than half a million dollars in gold have 
been withdrawn during the eight days since Feb- 
ruary 19th. 

This was perfectly proper under the construc- 
tion given to the law by the department. If a 
man who takes the note there has the option to 
demand gold or silver, whichever he pleases, we 
are at the mercy at any time of those who desire 
to deplete our gold reserve ; and I wonder at the 
moderation of those who are buying the bonds. 
Instead of only taking $18,000,000, I do not un- 
derstand why they did not draw from the treasury 
all the gold needed to buy the bonds. Just as 



278 SPEECH IN THE HOUSE 

long as we maintain the policy of giving the op- 
tion to any holder, neither $50,000,000 nor $100,- 
000,000 is a sufficient reserve if our financiers 
attack it. We have $346,000,000 in greenbacks 
outstandinor. You can take any amount of these 
and go and demand gold if the holder has the 
option. 

If the treasurer gives up the right to pay in 
either coin, then just as long as you have green- 
backs outstanding you can compel the issue of 
the bonds daily, monthly or yearly, to make up 
your gold reserve. As it is, the law is construed 
to compel their redemption in gold. Now, the 
difference between me and my friend from New 
York (Mr. Warner) is this — and I admire the 
frankness with which he stated the other day what 
a great many of the advocates of the gold stand- 
ard are not willing to state, that in his judgment 
we ought to draw in these greenbacks, pay them 
off, and fill the void with bank notes of some kind ; 
now, the difference, I say, between the gendeman 
and myself is this, that while he wants to extin- 
guish the greenbacks by paying them off, and 
thus protect the reserves, and then fill the void 
with something else, I want to adopt bimetallism 
in fact, and compel the treasurer to exercise the 
option of paying in whichever coin he wishes to 
pay in and has at hand. There is no bimetallism 
which gives the option to the note-holder. Bi- 
metallism always gives the option to the debtor, 



SPEECH IN THE HOUSE 279 

and if the treasurer would follow the law which 
stands upon the statute book and was intended to 
be exercised, there would be no dangrer of our 
gold being drained out as it has been. 

Why, sir, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. 
Patterson) told us yesterday of the small amount 
of gold that was coming into the Treasury, I was 
sorry to hear, because that meant, if it means any- 
thing, that there will be another demand for bonds, 
but it only illustrates how helpless we are in the 
hands of those whom a republic in time of war 
called pirates. It only shows us how defenseless 
"we are when these men who call themselves finan- 
ciers attack the credit of the government under a 
pretence of keeping up an honest currency. We 
are told that less than one per cent, of the custom 
dues are now paid in gold. What does it mean ? 
In my judgment it means that there is a con- 
certed plan to hold gold and gold cerdficates, and 
they can be withheld easily. The banks and 
clearing houses pay these checks, and they can 
pay them in any money they like. They have 
commenced now to pay the silver certificates to 
the Treasury and to withhold the gold. Does it 
not look like they were simply trying to deplete 
the gold reserve in order to secure another issue 
of bonds ? We were told a while back that we 
should issue bonds to keep the gold from going 
to Europe, and now we find that since the panic 
bank reserves have become so grreat that the 



28o SPEECH IN THE HOUSE 

banks are seeking the bonds as a safe investment 
for those reserves; but whatever the excuse it is 
always "bonds." I am in favor of the second 
section of this bill, which would substitute silver 
certificates for the coin certificates when they 
come in. 

Just so long as our Treasurer or the admin- 
istration admits the right of the note holders 
to demand gold just so long we are at their 
mercy ; and if we destroy half, two-thirds, three- 
fourths or nine-tenths of our paper money they 
can drain the gold reserve just as well with that 
which is left as they could with all of it; but I 
favor the second section of the pending bill, I sa3^ 
because it will pardy take away their argument ; 
but when you take away one argument they will 
resort to another. They told us before the 
Sherman act was repealed that the coin certifi- 
cates were being used to deplete the gold re- 
serve. The Sheman law was repealed and they 
are drawing out orold still with the certificates, 

o o 

and when you wipe them all out and put in their 
place silver certificates they can and will do the 
same with the greenbacks. We have to meet 
this question, Mr. Chairman, and I hope our peo- 
ple will be brave enough to meet it now and say 
that the Government of the United States is in 
duty bound to protect its common people, and 
owes to them an oblio^ation as strong and as 
sacred as its oblicrations to the "financiers" who 



SPEECH IN THE HOUSE 281 

.9re drawing the gold out of the Treasury when- 
ever they desire. 

1 have not criticised our eastern brethren. I 
presume they are carrying out the wishes of their 
constituents, at least we must take that for granted. 
But I do beg our western Republicans to be as 
independent in their actions as the eastern Demo- 
crats are in theirs. For years we talked tariff 
reform in the West and had it in our platforms. 
It was the faith of the party ; yet when we came 
down here and attempted to put it in execution 
we found opposed to it eastern Democrats enough 
to prevent the bringing of relief to the people. 
When we went back we had to tell our people 
that while a large majority of the Democratic 
party was in favor of tariff reform we could do 
nothing. Eastern protectionist Democrats retard 
the growth of the party in the West, These eastern 
representatives have had the courage to defy the 
discipline of party ; they have had the courage to 
separate from their party associates in order to 
protect what they believed to be the interests of 
their districts. Will the Republicans of the West 
blindly follow their eastern leaders rather than 
stand up for the interests of their constituents? 

We have been voting here to get a quorum, 
and there are just a few Republicans of all those 
who preach bimetallism — who 

" Keep the word of promise to our ear 
and break it to our hope." 



282 SPEECH IN THE HOUSE 

There are just a few of them who will vote here, 
against the dictation of their leaders, to bring 
diis question before the House. But the great 
mass of the western Republicans who tell you that 
they are for bimetallism, that they are in favor of 
the use of silver; who "point with pride" to the 
Republican platform which speaks of the vener- 
able use of gold and silver; these people — unlike 
the eastern Demorcats, who stand up against 
their party because, as they say, their constituents 
demand it of them, refuse to vote, and bow to 
party discipline. They sacrifice not the interests 
only, but in my humble judgment, the rights of 
the people who sent them here. If, sir, this is a 
conflict of ideas; if the eastern idea is to divide 
our party; if it is to take men out of the De- 
mocracy and make them stand aloof from their 
party associates in order, as they say, that they 
may protect their consdtuents, I ask if the Re- 
publicans of the West and South must stand by 
and allow a party name to prevent them from 
representing the interests of their people. We 
need money. There is not a dollar being issued 
by the Federal Treasury. Our population in- 
creases and with it the demand for money increases. 
Mr. Sherman said, in advocaUng the Sherman 
law, that we needed every year the ^54,000,000 
which that law was expected to give. If we 
needed it then, do we not need it now ? I ask 
you, western Republicans, who will go back to 



SPEECH IN THE HOUSE 283 

your homes and tell your people that you want to 
give them more money, I ask you, what provision 
you are making now for more money for the 
people ? There is practically no gold being 
coined. There is no material increase of the 
circulation from that source. There is none from 
the coinage of silver. There is none from the 
issue of certificates. There is none from the 
issue of greenbacks. There is none from the issue 
of national bank notes. There is a letter on the 
first page of this morning's Record which indicates 
that the national banks are withdrawing their cir- 
culation instead of increasing it. In fact the total 
amount of the national bank notes is constantly 
decreasing. On the ist of November, 1893, the 
amount of such notes in circulation was ^209,31 1,- 
993 ; the amount in circulation December i, 1893, 
^208,948,105 ; the amount in circulation January 
I, 1894; $208,538,844; the amount in circulation 
February i, 1894, $207,862,107, and the amount 
in circulation to-day, (February 27, 1894) $207,- 
420,440. Yet here is a great people demanding 
money and the great western country waiting 
for development. To be developed it must have 
money. 

What provision are you going to make ? I ask 
that this bill shall be passed in order that you may 
coin and put in circulation ^55,000,000 of silver, 
which will not more than supply the yearly need 



284 SPEECH IN THE HOUSE 

of this country according to Mr. Sherman's state- 
ment of three years ago. 

Mr. Coombs. — Will it interrupt the gentle- 
man to ask him to tell us how the issue of fifty- 
five millions of silver is to get into the hands of 
the people? 

Mr. Bryan. — In this way, Mr. Chairman : We 
coin these fifty-five millions ; that money is put 
into the Treasury, and then, instead of issuing 
bonds to get money to run the Government, let 
that silver be used to pay the expenses of the 
Government. In that way it goes into circulation 
without any difficulty. Why, sirs, we need it so 
badly that we were told a few days ago by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Hendrix) that, 
while the ostensible purpose of the bond issue 
was to get gold for the reserve, the real object 
was to get money to run the Government. Was 
there ever a better time to coin this money than 
now? If our eastern Democrats and all our 
eastern Republicans are willing to give the peo- 
ple fifty-five millions of this coinage, which they 
can give easily, which they can give right now, 
when we need the money, when we are borrow- 
ing money to pay our running expenses; if they 
are not willing to give this money now, I want to 
ask when will they be willing to give the people 
more money ? 

Mr. Walker. — Does the gentleman want an 
answer ? 



SPEECH IN THE HOUSE 285 

Mr. Bryan. — Will it be in that sweet by-and-by 
that you are looking forward to, when the Repub- 
lican party, as you say, will pay expenses by col- 
lecting more taxes ? 

Mr. Walker. — I will answer the gentleman. 
Never, never any flat money. 

Mr. Bryan. — Mr. Chairman, I believe the gen- 
tleman speaks what he believes. I do not do hira 
any injustice, for I repeat his own words. I be- 
lieve that that gentleman would never give the 
people enough money to do their business with. 

Mr. Walker. — I said flat money. 

Mr. Bryan. — Never as long as he represents a 
constituency more interested in appreciating the 
value of the currency than in giving a sufficient 
quantity of money for our public needs. This is 
not flat money. It is silver coin. 

Now, I want our friends to think about this. If 
we cannot justify the coinage of this seigniorage 
at this time when we need the money to meet the 
public expenditures ; if we cannot justify it now, 
then I want you, gendemen, to setde in your own 
minds when you are going to give the people a 
law that will supply them with money to keep 
pace with our population. Do 3^ou mean to say 
that you are going to confine the 67,000,000 of 
people in this country to the present currency? 
Do you mean to say that you never intend to give 
them more money of any kind ? If you do intend 



286 SPEECH IN THE HOUSE 

to give them more money, here is the chance to 
do it. 

If you do not want to give them this money, let 
it go forth that this Congress or those who are 
opposing this bill are in favor of confining a grow- 
ing country, a developing country, to the present 
volume of currency, which must mean an appreci- 
ating dollar and fall in prices an increasing debt, 
increasing suffering and the piling up of the 
wealth of this country in the hands of the few even 
more rapidly than it has been done heretofore. 
If you are ready to say that, let us go out and 
fight the battle before the people. Let us leave 
it to them to determine the question. But, sirs, 
you cannot excuse yourselves for not giving the 
people this money unless you are prepared to 
show them how you can furnish a better money 
with which to do their business. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SPEECH ON THE ROTHSCHILD-MORGAN 
BOND CONTRACT, DELIVERED IN 
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

February 14, 1895. 

The House having under consideration the joint resolution (li. Res. 
275) authorizing the issue of ^^65, 116,275 of gold 3 per cent, bonds, Mr. 
Bryan spoke as follows : 

Mr. Speaker : This resolution embodies two 
purposes. It proposes to ratify the contract made 
by the Executive by authorizing the substitution 
of gold bonds to the amount of $65,1 16,275, bear- 
ing interest at a rate not exceeding 3 per cent., 
and payable not more than thirty years after date, 
in accordance with the request made in the Pres- 
ident's message, and it also provides that green- 
backs and Treasury notes redeemed with the gold 
purchased with these bonds shall not be re-issued. 

I desire to call the attention of the House to the 
fact that the latter provision is intended to lock up 
in the Treasury ^65,000,000 of legal-tender paper 
without making any provision whatever to supply 
the place of that currency. If we vote for this 
proposition, we vote to retire that much money 
without filling the void, 

287 



288 BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 

Mr. Warner. Will the gentleman allow me to 
ask him a question? 

Mr. Bryan. I hope I shall not be interrupted. 

Mr. Warner. Does not the gold fill the void ? 

Mr. Bryan. Mr. Speaker, the House knows 
that when I have time I never object to questions, 
and it is only because of my limited time to-day 
that I ask gentlemen not to interrupt me. In 
answer to the question, however, I would say that 
unless the greenbacks and Treasury notes are re- 
issued they will accumulate and a few more bond 
issues will retire all of them and deprive the coun- 
try of that much of its circulating medium. For 
all practical purposes it is equivalent to a cancel- 
lation of this money and will offer a constant 
temptation to those who oppose greenbacks to 
draw out the gold and force further issues of bonds 
for the purpose of getting this kind of money out 
of the way. 

But the main question presented by this reso- 
lution is whether we shall ratify the contract made 
by the Executive and issue gold bonds in order to 
save about a half million a year in interest. The 
supporters of this resolution urge us to consider 
it as a business proposition, and I shall discuss it 
as a business proposition. One gentleman has 
suggested that Democrats ought not to criticise 
the Administration. I want it understood that, so 
far as I am concerned, when I took the oath of 
office as a member of Concrress, there was no 



BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 280 

mental reservation that I would not speak out 
against an outrage committed against my consti- 
tuents, even when committed by the President of 
the United States. 

The President of the United States is only a 
man. We intrust the administration of govern- 
ment to men, and when we do so, we know that 
they are liable to err. When men are in public 
office we expect them to make mistakes — even so 
exalted an official as the President is liable to make 
mistakes. And if the President does make a mis- 
take, what should Congress do ? Ought it to 
blindly approve his mistake, or do we owe it to 
the people of the United States, and even to the 
President himself to correct the mistake, so that 
it will not be made ao^ain ? But some orentlemen 
say that the Democratic party should stand by the 
President. What has he done for the party since 
the last election to earn its gratitude ? I want to 
suggest to my Democratic friends that the party 
owes no Qrreat debt of gratitude to its President. 
What gratitude should we feel ? The gratitude 
which a confiding ward feels toward his guardian 
without bond who has squandered a rich estate. 
What gratitude should we feel ? The gratitude 
which a passenger feels toward the trainman who 
has opened a switch and precipitated a wreck. 
What has he done for the party? He has at- 
tempted to inoculate it with Republican virus, and 



290 BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 

blood poisoning has set in. What is the duty of 
the Democratic party ? If it still loves its Presi- 
dent, it is its duty, as I understand it, to prove 
that it has at least one attribute of divinity left by 
chastening him whom it loveth. 

Mr. Speaker, I do not intend to question the 
motives of officials who are responsible for this 
contract. We might criticise the conduct of the 
President in excluding all other advices and con- 
sulting only with the magnates of Wall street; 
and we might even suggest that he could no more 
expect to escape from asphyxiation if he locked 
himself up in a room and turned on the gas — but 
without questioning the motives of the President, 
I say, we have the right to express our judgment 
as to whether the discretion vested in the Presi- 
dent has been wisely exercised. We are told that 
this is not only a business proposition, but a very 
insignificant question — just a little matter of sav- 
ing half a million a year, that is all. 

Mr. Speaker, I desire to ask these gentlemen 
who are always coming here with these " business 
propositions " why it is that no advocate of the 
gold standard dares to stand before the American 
people and unfold the full plan of the gold con- 
spiracy. Why is it that our opponents keep 
bringing up one proposition at a time and saying, 
'•An emergency is upon us ; let us adopt this pro- 
position at once, and leave the final settlement of 
the money question until some other time?" 



% 



CARL SeilURZ. 



HENRY WATTERSON. 



BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 293 

Why is it that we never reach a time when these 
gentlemen are wiHing to consider the greatest of 
all the questions which are demanding settlement 
at the hands of the American people? Save 
$16,000,000 in thirty years? Why, sirs, this is a 
bigger question than $16,000,000. 

Will you set a price upon human life ? Will 
you weigh in the balance the misery of the peo- 
ple? What is the value of civilization to the hu- 
man race — because the setdement of " this litde 
question " may enormously affect the welfare of 
mankind ? And yet gendemen talk about its be- 
ing a matter of small consequence, a litde ques- 
tion, the mere saving of half a million dollars a 
year. Save the people $16,000,000 in thirty 
years — twenty-five cents apiece — by this resolu- 
tion, and $16,000,000 will not measure the dam- 
age that may result to them in a third of that 
time. 

What is this contract ? I am glad that it has 
been public. It is a contract made by the Execu- 
tive of a great nation with the representatives of 
foreign money-loaners. It is a contract made 
with those who are desirous of changing the finan- 
cial policy of this country. They recognize by 
their actions that the United States has the right 
to pay coin obligations in either gold or silver, 
and they come to us with the insolent proposi- 
tion, "We will give you $16,000,000, paying a 
proportionate amount each year, if the United 



294 BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 

States will change its financial policy to suit us." 
Never before has such a bribe been offered to our 
people by a foreign syndicate, and we ought to so 
act that such a bribe will never be offered again. 
By this contract we not only negotiate with for- 
eigners for a change in our financial policy, but 
give them an option on future loans. They are 
to have the option on all bonds which may be 
issued before the first of next October. 

What would be the effect of such a condition ? 
Do you suppose that anybody else will care to 
bid when it is known that these men have the re- 
fusal of all bonds at any price ? It makes a pop- 
ular loan impossible. If these men alone did so 
bid for the next issue, they can insist upon a con- 
dition that they shall have an option on a still 
further issue of bonds. Shall we bind ourselves 
to these men perpetually ? I shall not raise the 
question, because I am not prepared to discuss it 
from a legal standpoint, whether the President 
has a right to sell an option on bonds which may 
be hereafter issued ; but, sirs, I will say that if he 
has the right, I believe he has made an inexcusa- 
ble use of the discretion invested in him. We 
cannot afford to put ourselves in the hands of the 
Rothschilds, who hold mortgages on most of the 
thrones of Europe. 

The press despatches stated that the French 
steamer La Gascogne, when she came into port a 
few days ago, had the three red lanterns on her 



BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 295 

foremasts, signifying : " Get out of the way ; I can- 
not control my course." The President may be 
persuaded that this country has reached the point 
where it cannot control its own course, and it 
must supplicate foreign financiers to protect our 
Treasury ; but he mistakes the sentiment of the 
American people if he thinks that they share with 
him in this alarm. The United States is able to 
take care of itself It can preserve its credit and 
protect its people without purchasing at a high 
price the " financial influence " or the legitimate 
efforts of banking corporations, foreign or do- 
mestic. 

I call attention also to the fact that these bonds 
may be made payable in thirty years. The con- 
tract does not call for thirty year bonds ; it says 
that "any bonds of the United States," payable in 
gold, and drawing three per cent, interest, maybe 
substituted in the place of the coin bonds. But 
there seems to be a fear that the bond-buyers 
may insist that the spirit of the contract may com- 
pel the issue of thirty-year bonds. In describing 
this contract, Mr. Speaker, I find in the " Mer- 
chant of Venice " language more expressive than 
any I can command. That language fits the con- 
tract which we are asked to ratify, and is as fol- 
lows : 

"Shylock, This kindness will I show : 

Go with me to a notary, seal me there 
Your single bond, and, in a merry sport 
If you repay me not on such a day, 



296 BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 

In such a place, such sum or sums that as are 
Expressed in the condition, let the forfeit 
Be nominated for an equal pound 
Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken 
In what part of your body pleaseth me. 



"Antonio. Yes, Shylock, I will seal unto this bond." 

Mr. Bowen. — Who wrote that, Shakespeare or 
Bacon ? 

Mr. Bryan. — I shall leave Mr. Donnelly and 
Mr. Ingersoll to settle the question of authorship. 
But, Mr. Speaker, it was decided that Mr. Shy- 
lock's bond, while it called for a pound of flesh, 
did not include any blood. The- difference be- 
tween the construction placed upon that bond and 
the construction which this House is asked to 
place upon the contract before us is, that we are 
asked to make the construction so liberal as to in- 
clude the blood with the flesh. We have a right, 
according to the terms of the contract, to substi- 
tute a short-time bond, and yet the resolution 
permits the Secretary to issue a thirty-year bond. 

This House is not prepared to give its sanc- 
tion to a policy which contemplates a permanent 
public debt ; but the rule adopted allows no op- 
portunity for an amendment limiting the bonds to 
five or ten years. If we give the Secretary of the 
Treasury authority to issue a thirty-year bond, he 
is powerless to resist the demands of bond pur- 
chasers, because the contract is made. Ten days 
only are given for the exercise of the option. He 



BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 297 

cannot negotiate with anybody else ; he cannot 
offer bonds to anyone else ; he is in their hands ; 
he must make a thirty-year bond if they ask it — 
and who doubts that they will ask it ? 

There is another objection to this contract. It 
provides for the private sale of gold bonds, run- 
ning thirty years, at ^1.04^ which ought to be 
worth $1.19 in the open market, and which could 
have been sold at public auction for $1.15 without 
the least effort. 

Why this sacrifice of the interest of the United 
States ? The Government's credit was not in dan- 
ger; the bonds of the United States were selling 
in the market at a regular premium. The same 
kind of bonds having only twelve years to run 
were selling at over $1.12. What excuse was 
there for selling a thirty year bond for $1,045^ ^ 
What defence can be made of this gift of some- 
thinor like seven million and a half dollars to the 
bond syndicate. We are told that we can avoid 
the sale of coin bonds at $1.04;^ by authorizing 
three and a half per cent, gold bonds. What a 
privilege ! Why, it is less than three months since 
ten year coin bonds were sold by the President at 
a premium which reduced the rate of interest to 
less than three per cent. 

Has the credit of the country fallen so much in 
three months that a thirty year three per cent, 
gold bond is worth less now than a ten year three 
per cent, coin bond was then ? Nothing has oc- 



298 BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 

curred within three months, except the President's 
messages to injure the credit of the country. If 
the President is correct in assuming that the 
financial world places a higher estimate on gold 
bonds than the coin bonds, why did he not secure 
a higher price for gold bonds ? Did not pur- 
chasers know three months ago that coin bonds 
could be paid in silver ? They certainly did and 
yet they were willing to loan money on those 
bonds for a short time at a lower rate of interest 
than Messrs. Morgan and Rothschild now offer to 
loan on long time gold bonds. 

But why are gold bonds demanded? Gentle- 
men say that all our bonds are in fact payable in 
gold now. They either are payable in gold or 
they are not. If they are, then this legislation is 
not needed. If they are not, then the proposed 
legislation is a radical and violent change of 
policy. We insist that outstanding bonds are pay- 
able in gold or silver and that the United States 
has the right to choose the coin. The men who 
contracted for coin bonds understood this, and in- 
sisted upon a higher rate of interest on the ground 
that they be paid in silver. By what authority, 
then, does the President declare in his message : 
"Of course there should never be a doubt in 
any quarter as to redemption in gold of the bonds 
of the Government which are made payable in 
coin." Is he not aware of the fact that the 
debtor always has the choice of the coin, where 



BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 299 

>only coin Is mentioned? Is he not aware of the 
adoption of the Matthews' resolution in 1878? 
That resolution expressly declared the right of the 
Government to pay its bonds in either gold or 
silver. The resolution reads as follow : 

"That all the bonds of the United States 
issued or authorized to be issued under the 
said act of Congress herein before recited, are 
payable principal and interest at the option 
of the Government of the United States in silver 
dollars of the coinage of the United States 
containing 412 one-half grains each of standard 
silver, and that to restore its coinage such silver 
coin as a legal tender in payment of said bonds, 
principal and interest, is not in violation of the 
public faith nor in the derogation of the rights of 
the public. creditors." 

That policy has never been changed by law, 
but the resolution before us makes a departure 
from the settled policy of the Government and 
provides for a bond payable specifically in gold. 
Do members realize the influence which would be 
exerted upon the public generally by the adoption 
of this resolution ? The gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Cooper) told us that his city recently issued 
gold bonds and we know that pressure is being 
brought to bear on other cities and on indi- 
viduals to induce them to enter into gold con- 
tracts. If the Government discredits silver by 
making these bonds payable in gold only it will 



300 BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 

set an example which will go far towards compel- 
ling all borrowers to compromise payment in 
gold. As gold contracts increase in number the 
demand for gold will increase. 

What a farce for men to talk about maintaining 
the parity between the metals by means of legis- 
lation which directly tends to destroy the parity 
and drives gold to a premium ! The legislation 
proposed will either pledge the Government to 
redeem all bonds in gold or it will discredit bonds 
already in existence. The probability is that the 
adoption of this resolution would be followed 
immediately by the demand from the holders of 
other bonds that they be put upon the same gold 
footing. I say probably, I may say that such a 
course is certain. No sooner had the President 
asked for authority to issue gold bonds than his 
faithful lieutenant in the Senate, Mr. Hill, offered 
a resolution pledging the Government to redeem 
all bonds in gold if gold goes.to a premium. This 
remarkable resolution read as follows : 

"Resolved (If the House of Representatives 
concurs), That it is the sense of Congress that the 
true policy of the Government requires that its 
efforts should be steadily directed to the estab- 
lishment of a safe system of bimetallism, wherein 
gold and silver may be maintained at a parity, and 
every dollar coined may be the equal in value and 
power of every other dollar coined or issued by 
the United States ; but if our efforts to establish 



BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 301 

or maintain such bimetallism shall not be wholly 
successful, and if for any other reason our silver 
coin shall not hereafter be at a parity with gold 
coin and the equal thereof in value and power in 
the market and in the payment of debts, then it is 
hereby declared that the bonds of the United 
States, now or hereafter issued, which by their 
terms are payable in coin, shall, nevertheless, be 
paid in standard gold dollars, it being the policy 
of the United States that its creditors shall at all 
times be paid in the best money in use." 

This would not only pledge the Government to 
the previous issue in gold but would relieve the re- 
cent purchasers from the loss which they guarded 
against by an extortionate interest and yet leave 
them enjoy the fruits of their extortion. Thus 
does one vicious proposition tread upon the 
heels of another. Mr. Hill's plan is even worse 
than the President's, for under the plan of the 
latter the bondholder would bear whatever loss 
might arise if gold should happen to fall below 
silver, but Mr. Hill's plan burdens the Govern- 
ment with all the risks and guarantees to the 
bondholders all the chance of gain. Not only is 
Mr. Hill's plan directly antagonistic to the prin- 
ciple of bimetallism, but it offers a reward to the 
creditor if he can destroy the parity between the 
metals, whereas the creditor is interested in main- 
taining the parity when the option lies with the 
Government. 



302 BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 

It is alarming to note the aggressiveness of the 
creditor classes, and humiliating to think that 
Congress should be asked to comply with their 
wishes regardless of consequences. The first 
effect of this government in the direction of gold 
contracts would be to reduce the amount of our 
primary money, and to build our entire credit 
system upon a narrow base of gold. Think of 
making an indebtedness public and private of 
$13,000,000,000 payable in gold, with only $600,- 
000,000 of gold in the country, and that is an 
estimate ! 

The government estimate of gold coin in the 
United States on the first of January, 1895, was 
about $600,000,000, and of that sum only about 
$214,000,000 was visible. About $100,000,000 
was in the Treasury of the United States, and 
$114,000,000 was held by national banks. Be- 
yond that no one knows the whereabouts of any 
laro-e amount of this o^old. We know that no 
large amount of gold is in circulation among the 
people or in hiding, and yet, with only $214,000,- 
000 of visible gold, the United States is expected 
to conduct a safe business on a gold basis. To 
make the attempt is to invite a panic — nay, more, 
it is to guarantee a disaster. 

And yet, Mr. Speaker, if the immediate effect 
is bad, the ultimate effect of the proposed policy 
is infinitely worse. Every act of legislation dis- 
criminating against silver gives an impetus to the 



BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 303 

Government in favor of a gold standard, and 
makes the restoration of bimetallism more diffi- 
cult. No one act could, in my judgment, do more 
to obstruct the re-establishment of free bimetallic 
coinage as it existed prior to 1873 than the act 
which the President is attempting to force upon 
Congress. Are the eendemen who are urginor it 
deceived as to its purpose and necessary effect 
when they speak of it as an insignificant matter, 
or do they presume upon the credulity of their 
hearers ? Believing that it is a long step in the 
direction of universal gold monometallism, and 
believing that universal gold monometallism 
would bring this country continuous and increas- 
ing financial distress beyond the power of lan- 
guage to exaggerate, we protest against the pas- 
sage of this resolution. If we love our country 
and are interested in its welfare, no sacrifice on 
our part should be too great if necessary to pre- 
vent the adoption of such a policy by this the 
foremost nation upon the earth. 

While the question immediately before us is 
whether we shall authorize the issue of gold bonds, 
I ask you to consider for a moment whether we 
need to issue bonds of any kind. Bonds have 
been issued to replenish the gold reserve, and the 
gold reserve has been drawn out because the 
holders of greenbacks and Treasury notes have 
been allowed to designate the coin of redemp- 
tion. In other words, the option which belongs 



304 BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 

to the Government has been surrendered to the 
holders of the notes, and this has been done, not 
by the legislative enactment, but by an adminis- 
trative policy. If the withdrawal of gold could be 
stopped, no bonds would be necessary. It be- 
comes important, therefore, to know whether the 
Government has a legal right to protect itself 
from the gold-grabbing by redeeming greenbacks 
and Treasury notes in silver when silver is more 
convenient. On the 21st of January, 1S95, Secre- 
tary Carlisle made a statement before the House 
Committee on Appropriations, and I quote the 
following question and answer from a printed re- 
port of his testimony : 

" Mr. Sibley, I would like to ask you (perhaps 
not entirely connected with the matter under dis- 
cussion) what objection there could be to having 
the option of redeeming either in silver or gold 
lie with the Treasury instead of the note-holder? 

Secretary Carlisle. — If that policy had been 
adopted at the beginning of the resumption — and 
I am not saying this for the purpose of criticising 
the action of any of my predecessors or anybody 
else — but if the policy of reserving to the Govern- 
ment at the beginning of resumption the option 
of redeeming in gold or silver all its paper pre- 
sented had been adopted, I believe it would have 
worked beneficially, and there would have been 
no trouble growing out of it ; but the Secretaries 
of the Treasury from the beginning of resumption 



BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 305 

have pursued a policy of redeeming in gold or 
silver at the option of the holder of the paper, and 
if any Secretary had afterwards attempted to 
change that policy and force silver upon a man 
who wanted gold, or gold upon a man who wanted 
silver, and especially if he had made that attempt 
upon such a critical period as we have had within 
the last two years, my judgment is it would have 
been very disastrous. There is a vast difference 
between establishing a policy at the beginning 
and reversing a policy after it has been long es- 
tablished, and especially after the situation has 
been chanored." 

o 

This is sufficient proof that the Secretary has 
the legal right to redeem greenbacks and Treas- 
ury notes in silver, but is restrained by the fear 
that a different precedent having been established, 
an exercise of the legal right at this time would 
be "very disastrous." Senator Sherman, in 
March, 1878, in testimony given before a Senate 
Committee, also recognized the right of the 
Government to redeem greenbacks with silver. 
I quote from his testimony : 

"Senator Bayard. — You speak of resumption 
upon a bimetallic basis being easier. Do you 
make that proposition irrespective of the readjust- 
ment of the relative values of the two metals as 
we have declared them ? 

"Senator Sherman.~I think so. Our mere 
right to pay in silver would deter a great many 



3o6 BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 

people from presenting notes for redemption who 
would readily do so if they could get the lighter 
and more portable coin in exchange. Besides, 
gold coin can be exported, while silver coin could 
not be exported, because its market value is much 
less than its coin value. 

"Senator Bayard. — By the first of July next, 
or the first of January next, you have eighteen or 
twenty millions of silver dollars which are in cir- 
culation and payable for duties, and how long do 
you suppose this short supply of silver and your 
control of it by your coinage will keep it equiva- 
lent to gold when one is worth ten cents less than 
the other ? 

"Secretary Sherman. — Just so long as it can 
be used for any thing that gold is used for. It 
will be worth in this country the par of gold until 
it becomes so abundant and bulky that people 
will become tired of carrying it about; but in our 
country that can be avoided by depositing it for 
coin certificates." 

No law has ever been passed surrendering the 
Government's rights to redeem in silver ; and it 
is as valuable now as it was just after the passage 
of the Bland law in 1878, which restored silver as 
a part of our standard money. The testimony 
above quoted was given by Senator Sherman, 
then Secretary of the Treasury, soon after the 
passage of the Bland Act and before the resump- 
tion of specie payment. 



BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 307 

Now, notwithstanding the fact that the Govern- 
ment has a legal right to redeem in silver, and 
thus protect the people from the gold hoarders 
and gold exporters, the President continues to 
pay in gold even when gold must be purchased 
by an issue of bonds, and we cannot authorize the 
issue of any bonds for the purpose of buying gold 
without endorsing the policy which permits the 
drain of gold, and thus gives an excuse for a bond 
issue. So far, the surrender to the note-holder of 
the right to designate the coin of payment is 
purely an act of the Executive, and has never re- 
ceived legislative approval. 

If it is said that the President will issue bonds 
anyhow, and we ought, therefore, to authorize a 
bond drawing a low rate of interest, I reply that 
until we can restrain the President from further 
increasing our bonded indebtedness, and compel 
him to protect the Government by redeeming in 
silver when that is more convenient, we can bet- 
ter afford to allow him to bear the responsibility 
alone than by approving his course pledge the 
Government to a continuation of his policy. If the 
Secretary thinks that it would now be disastrous 
to depart from a precedent established by a for- 
mer Secretary of the Treasury Capitol, how much 
more difficult it would be to change the policy 
after endorsing it by an act of Congress. 

So long as the note holder has the option, 
bonds may be issued over and over again without 



3o8 BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 

avail. Gold will be withdrawn either directly or 
indirectly for the purpose of buying bonds, and an 
issue of bonds compelled again, whenever bond 
buyers have a surplus of money awaiting invest- 
ment. This experiment has been tried but instead 
of convincing the President of the utility of bond 
issues it has simply led him to try a new experi- 
ment. By purchasing gold in Europe he may 
enlarge the circle around which the eold must 
pass, but the only remedy is the restoration of the 
bimetallic principle and the exercise of the option 
to redeem greenbacks and treasury notes in silver 
whenever silver is more convenient or whenever 
such a course is necessary to prevent a run 
upon the Treasury. To delay the remedy is to 
prolong our embarrassment ; to authorize bonds 
of any kind is to rivet upon the country the 
policy which has brought our present troubles 
upon us; to authorize bonds payable specifically 
in gold is to invite new difficulties and to estab- 
lish a still more dangerous precedent. 

I am glad to hear some of our Republican 
friends denounce this gold bond proposition, but 
are they not in effect condemning a Republican 
policy. The gold bond is the legitimate result of 
the policy inaugurated and continued by Republi- 
can administrations. It was a Republican admin- 
istration which first surrendered to the note 
holder the option to demand gold in redemption 
of greenbacks and treasury notes, and it was 



Hon. JAMES I). HICIIAKDSOX. 




Hon. carter H. HARRISON. 



BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 311 

rumored that President Harrison was preparing 
to issue bonds to buy gold just before his term 
expired. The substitute for the Springer Bill, 
that is the substitute offered by the gentleman 
from Maine (Mr. Reed) authorized the issue of 
coin bonds to buy gold and yet the Republicans 
almost without exception voted for that substitute. 

I offered an amendment to the Reed substitute, 
an amendment which reafirms the Matthews' reso- 
lution declaring all coin bonds payable in gold or 
silver, and yet less than twenty (I think thirteen) 
Republicans voted for my amendment. The great 
majority of the Republicans thus declared that coin 
bonds are gold bonds in fact. If coin bonds are 
really gold bonds there is less reason for agitation 
about the word gold in the bond. We who 
believe that greenbacks and treasury notes are 
redeemable in either gold or silver at the option 
of the" Government — we, who believe in the rights 
of the Government to redeem its coin bond in 
either gold or silver, we, I say, can object to gold 
bonds as a violent change in our monetary policy, 
but those who insist that greenbacks, treasury 
notes and coin bonds are all payable in gold on 
demand have far less reason to criticise the pre- 
cedent. 

I repeat, the President is simply carrying a Re- 
publican policy to its logical conclusion. If the 
Republicans are in earnest in their opposition to 
gold bonds let them come with us and help to 



312 BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 

make all bonds unnecessary by restorinsf the 
bimetallic principle and exercising the option in- 
vested in the Government to redeem coin obliga- 
tions in either gold or silver. The Government 
is helpless so I'ong as it refuses to exercise this 
option. 

Mr. Dunn. — Don't you want to make it more 
helpless? 

Mr. Bryan. — No sir ; I do not propose to make 
it more helpless. I propose the only policy which 
will help the Government. I propose the only 
policy which will stop the leak in the Treasury. 
I only ask that the Treasury department shall be 
administered in behalf of the American people 
and not in behalf of the Rothschilds and in behalf 
of the other foreign bankers. 

But^ Mr. Speaker, I desire, in conclusion, to call 
the attention of our eastern brethren to the fact 
that this controversy can be no longer delayed. 
The issue has come and it must be met. On 
these financial questions we find that the Demo- 
crats of the East and the Republicans of the East 
lock arms and proceed to carry .out their policies, 
regardless of the interest and the wishes of the 
rest of the country. If they form this union of- 
fensive and defensive, they must expect that the 
rest of the people of the country will drop party 
lines, if necessary, and unite to preserve their 
homes and their welfare. 

If this is sectionalism the East has set the 



BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 313 

example. The demand of our eastern brethren, 
both Republicans and Democrats, is for a steadily 
appreciating monetary standard. They are credi- 
tors. They hold our bonds and our mortgages, 
and, as the dollars increase in purchasing power, 
our debts increase and the holders of our bonds 
and mortgages gather in an earned increment. 
They are seeking to reap where they did not sow ; 
they are seeking to collect that to w^hich they are 
not entitled ; they favor spoliation under the forms 
of law. The necessary result of their policy is 
the building up of a plutocracy which will make 
servants of the rest of the people. 

This effort has gone on steadily, and for the 
most part stealthily, during the past twenty years, 
and this gold bond proposition is but another 
step in the direction of financial bondage. But I 
warn them that no slavery was ever perpetual. 
It has often been attempted, it has even been 
successfully attempted for a time, but the shackles 
are always open at last. Bondage is ephemeral, 
freedom is eternal. " Weeping may endure for a 
night, but joy cometh in the morning." 

The time will come when the unjust demands 
and the oppressive exactions of our eastern 
brethren will compel the South and West to unite 
in the restoration of an honest dollar — a dollar 
which will defraud neither debtor nor creditor, a 
dollar based upon two metals, " the gold and silver 
coinage of our Constitution." Thomas Jefferson 



314 BRYAN ON BOND CONTRACT 

still survives and his principles will yet triumph. 
He taught equality before the law, he taught that 
all citizens are equally entitled to consideration 
of Government, he taught that it is the highest 
duty of Government to protect each citizen from 
injury at the hands of any other citizen. We 
seek to apply his principles to-day to this great 
iiation ; we seek to protect the debtor from the 
greed of the creditor; we seek to protect society 
from avarice of the capitalist. We believe that in 
the restoration of bimetallism we shall secure the 
re-establishment of equity and restore prosperity 
to our country. 



CHAPTER XV. 
THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 

The Democratic National Convention for 1896, 
which had been called to meet in Chicago, July 
7th, was destined by political conditions to be the 
most important gathering of the kind in recent 
years. The interest in the financial question had 
grov/n so rapidly during Mr. Cleveland's second 
administration that it became the one topic of 
national consideration. The action of the Re- 
publican National Convention at St. Louis, in 
June, in declaring for a single gold standard gave 
an impetus to the movement for a declaration for 
free silver coinage by the Democratic Convention. 
The people had listened to arguments on the im- 
portant issue, had read and studied the question, 
and had discussed it among themselves until there 
was a demand by them that the issue must be 
fairly and honestly met at the polls. 

The silver sentiment had taken a more aggres- 
sive form in the Democratic party than in its 
formidable competitor, and as the latter had gone 
on record for a gold standard, the democracy was 
looked to to take up the cause of silver. In 
every state convention held to select delegates to 
the National Convention, this one question was 

315 



3i6 CHICAGO CONVENTION 

uppermost. No surprise was shown by the op 
ponents of free coinage when the friends of silver 
secured the delegations from the Western States, 
but when that sentiment gave evidence of sweep- 
ingthe Middle and some of the Eastern States, there 
was much alarm among the advocates of gold. 

The Democratic national administration was for 
the gold standard, and used its power to enable 
that sentiment to control the National Convention. 
The repeated issuance of bonds by the adminis- 
tration to uphold the gold standard, thereby in- 
creasing the national debt to a startling extent, 
aroused the people to a sense of the need of a 
change in the financial policy of the Government. 
The result showed that this sentiment did not 
exist alone in the States which mined silver, as 
had been so frequently urged by the enemies of 
free coinage. Bimetallism carried the silver 
States, the Western States, with but two excep- 
tions, the Southern States, and passed on into the 
enemy's camp, and carried all the Middle States 
but two. So strong did the movement become 
that it was conceded weeks before the National 
Convention met that the free-coinage men would 
control by a large majority. 

The body which met at Chicago was a delibera- 
tive one, realizing at the outset that it had an 
important issue to meet, and that whatever posi- 
tion the party took on the question, there would 
inevitably be a great deal of dissatisfaction, 



CHICAGO CONVENTION 317 

followed by a bolt on the part of many prominent 
Democrats. It was composed of cool and deter- 
mined men, who went there with a purpose, and 
bent on carrying that purpose out. They were 
not to be swayed from what they considered their 
duty, by personal friendship, local pride or political 
precedent. They held that new conditions had 
come into existence, requiring new men, new 
ideas, and new methods of party procedure. 
They worked upon this line, and the Democratic 
national ticket and platform of 1896 are the 
result. The convention met at noon, Tuesday, 
and did not adjourn till late the following Satur- 
day afternoon. There was a contest royal from 
the moment the convention was originally called 
to order, till the fall of the gavel announced the 
dissolution. 

Mr. Bryan was one of the duly-elected dele- 
gates-at-large from Nebraska, but his seat, and 
those of his delegation, were contested by a fac- 
tion of the Democratic party in that State which 
had bolted from the regular organization, and 
called themselves "Administration Democrats," 
favoring a gold standard. This contest was acted 
upon by the National Committee previous to the 
assembling of the convention, and that organiza- 
tion being controlled by gold standard men, the 
contesting delegation was seated, forcing the reg- 
ular delegation to take seats among the spectators 
in the convention. 

19 



3i8 CHICAGO CONVENTION 

Hon. William F. Harrity, of Pennsylvania, 
Chairman of the National Committee, called the 
convention to order at noon on Tuesday, July 7th, 
and after the usual formalities attending the open- 
ing of such a meeting, announced that the Na- 
tional Committee had selected Senator David B. 
Hill, of New York, as temporary chairman. 

The silver men, being in a majority in the con- 
vention, refused to accept a single-standard man 
as the temporary presiding officer, even when he 
was possessed of the eminent ability and charac- 
ter of the senior senator from the Empire State, 
and presented as their choice. Senator John W. 
Daniel, of Virginia. 

This action was contrary to precedent in Dem- 
ocratic conventions, but this convention was not fol- 
lowing precedent. It was establishing precedent 
and making history for future conventions. A dis- 
cussion was precipitated upon the phases of the 
question which continued all afternoon. Upon 
roll call, the silver men triumphed in their first 
contest, Senator Daniel being chosen to preside 
temporarily over the convention by a vote of 556, 
to 349 for Senator Hill. 

The customary committees were selected, after 
which the first day's session came to an end. 

The convention was slow in getting to work on 
Wednesday, owing to delay by committees in 
making their reports. After a few hours the 
committee on credentials sent in a partial report 



CHICAGO CONVENTION 319 

recommending the seating of the regular delega- 
tion from Nebraska, of which Mr. Bryan was a 
member, and this report Vv^as adopted by the con- 
vention without division. The departing of the 
contesting delegation, and the coming of the reg- 
ular delegation, was the occasion for the first 
demonstration for Mr. Bryan, who, however, was 
not present at the time, being engaged with the 
committee on resolutions in preparing a platform. 

Later, the committee on credentials reported in 
favor of seating four contesting silver delegates 
from Michigan, and this report was discussed 
during the larger part of the afternoon, being 
eventually adopted. With that, the work of this 
particular committee ended. 

Permanent organization was then perfected by 
the election of Senator Stephen M. White, of Cali- 
fornia, as permanent chairman, after which the 
convention adjourned till Thursday. 

Thursday morning the committee on resolu- 
tions reported. Senator J. K. Jones, of Arkan- 
sas, presented the majority report, embracing the 
free-silver plank, and Senator D. B. Hill pre- 
sented the minority report, which called for the 
maintenance of the present gold standard until 
an international agreement could be reached for 
the free coinage of silver. 

The committee had agreed to set aside two 
hours and forty minutes for debate on the plat- 
form, one hour and twenty minutes on a sidft- 



320 CHICAGO CONVENTION 

Senator B. R. Tillman, of South Carolina, opened 
the discussion for the silver men, followed by 
Senator Jones, of Arkansas. Senator D. B. Hill 
opened for the gold standard side, followed by 
Senator William F. Vilas, of Wisconsin, and Ex- 
Gov. William E. Russell, of Massachusetts. Mr. 
Bryan closed for the silver men and closed the 
debate. The discussion proved to be a forensic 
contest of surpassing interest and of wonderful 
force. Mr. Bryan's address on that occasion, and 
a description of the manner in which it was re- 
ceived, can be best given by republishing the 
report which appeared in the Chicago Times- 
Herald the morning after the discussion, which 
was as follows : 

"The Silver Knight of the West," William 
Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska, set the convention 
on fire with a speech, which was followed by a 
demonstration which never will be forgotten by 
the 16,000 persons who witnessed it and partici- 
pated therein. 

Up to this time the convention had not been 
dull for want of effective oratory. The tearful 
and pleading Colonel Fellows, of New York ; the 
fiery and impulsive Blackburn, of Kentucky ; the 
forceful and aggressive Altgeld, of Illinois; and 
such famous orators as Hill, Russell, Waller and 
White had scored their triumphs and added new 
leaves to their laurel wreaths. But when com. 
pared to the impassioned oratory of the " Black 



CHICAGO CONVENTION 321 

Eagle of Nebraska," newly named "The Silver 
Knight of the West," the efforts were tame. 

A reputation as an orator may prove either an 
advantage or a handicap to its possessor. From 
such a man the listener expects much. Woe is in 
store for such an orator if his effort fail to meet 
the sanguine expectations of the auditor, and tri- 
umph is sure if he reaches the heralded heights 
which have been promised. Bryan established a 
reputation as an orator in the scattered hamlets 
on the Nebraska plains and it wafted him into 
Congress. In one term he set a new mark for 
congressional eloquence. Yesterday, he set 
another new mark. 

Senator Hill was given a storm of applause 
before he spoke ; Bryan, a cyclone of enthusiasm 
when he had concluded. When quiet had been 
restored by the chairman, Mr. Bryan then ad- 
dressed the convention. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

SPEECH DELIVERED BY 

HON. WILLIAM J. BRYAN 

OF NEBRASKA 
BEFORE THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION 

JULY 9, 1896 



: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention: 
*' I would be presumptuous, indeed, to pre- 
i^ent myself against the distinguished gentlemen 
to whom you have listened if this was a mere 
measuring of abilities ; but this is not a contest 
between persons. The humblest citizen in all the 
land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, 
is stronger than all the hosts of error. I come to 
speak to you in defense of a cause as holy as the 
cause of liberty — the cause of humanity. 

"When this debate is concluded a motion will 
be made to lay upon the table the resolution 
offered in commendation of the administration and 
also the resolution offered in condemnation of the 
administration. We object to bringing this ques- 
tion down to the level of persons. The individ- 
ual is but an atom ; he is born, he acts, he dies ; 

322 



BRYAN'S CONVENTION SPEECH 323 

but principles are eternal ; and this has been a 
contest over a principle. 

" Never before in the history of this country 
has there been witnessed such a contest as that 
through which we have just passed. Never be- 
fore in the history of American politics has a 
great issue been fought out, as this issue has 
been, by the voters of a great party. On the 
fourth of March, 1895, ^ ^^"^ Democrats, most of 
them members of Congress, issued an address to 
the Democrats of the nation, asserting that the 
money question was the paramount issue of the 
hour; declaring that a majority of the Democratic 
party had the right to control the action of the 
party on this paramount issue ; and concluding 
with the request that the believers in the free 
coinage of silver in the Democratic party should 
organize, take charge of, and control the policy of 
the Democratic party. Three months later, at 
Memphis, an organization was perfected, and the 
silver Democrats went forth openly, courageously 
proclaiming their belief, and declaring that, 
if successful, they would crystallize into a plat- 
form the declaration which they had made. Then 
began the conflict. With a zeal approaching the 
zeal which inspired the crusaders who followed 
Peter the Hermit, our silver Democrats went 
forth from victory unto victory until they are now 
assembled, not to discuss, not to debate, but to 
enter up the judgment already rendered by the 



324 BRYAN'S CONVENTION SPEECH 

plain people of this country. In this contest 
brother has been arrayed against brother, father 
against son. The warmest ties of love, acquaint- 
ance and association have been disregarded ; old 
leaders have been cast aside when they have re- 
fused to give expression to the sentiments of 
those whom they would lead, and new leaders 
have sprung up to give direction to this cause of 
truth. Thus has the contest been waged, and we 
have assembled here under as binding and solemn 
instructions as were ever imposed upon represen- 
tatives of the people. 

"We do not come as individuals. As indi- 
viduals we might have been glad to compliment 
the gentleman from New York (Senator Hill), 
but we know that the people for whom we speak 
would never be willing to put him in a position 
where he could thwart the will of the Democratic 
party, I say it was not a question of persons ; it 
was a question of principle, and it is not with 
gladness, my friends, that we find ourselves 
brought into conflict with those that are now 
arrayed on the other side. 

"The gentleman who preceded me (ex-Govern- 
or Russell) spoke of the State of Massachusetts ; 
let me assure him that not one present in all this 
convention entertains the least hostility to the 
people of the State of Massachusetts, but we 
stand here representing people who are the equals 
before the law of the greatest citizens of the 



BRYAN'S CONVENTION SPEECH 325 

State ot Massachusetts. When you (turning to 
the gold delegates) come before us and tell us 
that we are about to disturb your business in- 
terests, we reply that you have disturbed our 
business interests by your course. 

"We say to you that you have made the defi- 
nition of a business man too limited in its appli- 
cation. The man who is employed for wages is 
as much a business man as his employer ; the 
attorney in a country town is as much a business 
man as the corporation counsel in a great metrop- 
olis ; the merchant at the cross-roads store is as 
much a business man as the merchant of New 
York ; the farmer who goes forth in the morning 
and toils all day — who begins in the spring and 
toils all summer — and who by the application of 
brain and muscle to the natural resources of the 
country creates wealth, is as much a business man 
as the man who goes upon the board of trade and ' 
bets upon the price of grain ; the miners who go 
down a thousand feet into the earth, or climb two 
thousand feet upon the cliffs, and bring forth from 
their hiding places the precious metals to be poured 
into the channels of trade are as much business 
men as the few financial magnates who, in a 
back room, corner the money of the world. We 
come to speak for this broader class of business 
men. 

"Ah, my friends, we say not one word against 
those who live upon the Atlantic Coast, but the 



326 BRYAN'S CONVENTION SPEECH 

hardy pioneers who have braved all the dangers 
of the wilderness, who have made the desert to 
blossom as the rose — the pioneers away out there 
(pointing to the West), who rear their children 
near to Nature's heart, where they can mingle 
their voices with the voices of the birds — out 
there where they have erected school-houses for 
the education of their young, churches where 
they praise their Creator, and cemeteries where 
rest the ashes of their dead — these people, we 
say, are as deserving of the consideration of our 
party, as any people in this country. It is for 
these that we speak. We do not come as aggres- 
sors. Our war is not a war of conquest ; we 
are fighting in the defense of our homes, our fam- 
ilies and posterity. We have petitioned, and our 
petitions have been scorned ; we have entreated, 
and our entreaties have been disregarded ; we 
have begged, and they have mocked when our 
calamity came. We beg no longer ; we entreat 
no more ; we petition no more. We defy them. 

"The gendeman from Wisconsin has said that 
he fears a Robespierre. My friends, in this land 
of the free, you need not fear that a tyrant will 
spring up from among the people. What we 
need is an Andrew Jackson to stand, as Jackson 
stood, against the encroachments of organized 
wealth. 

"They tell us that this platform was made to 
catch votes. We reply to them, that changing 




Hon. B. F. SIIIVELY. 




Hon. BOURKE COCHRAN. 



BRYAN'S CONVENTION SPEECH 329 

conditions make new issues ; that the principles 
upon which Democracy rests, are as everlasting 
as the hills, but that they must be applied to new 
conditions as they arise. Conditions have arisen, 
and we are here to meet those conditions. They 
tell us that the income tax ought not to be brought 
in here ; that it is a new idea. They criticise us 
for our criticism of the Supreme Court of the 
United States. My friends, we have not criti- 
cised ; we have simply called attention to what 
you already know. If you want criticisms, read 
the dissenting opinions of the court. There you 
will find criticisms. They say that we passed an 
unconstitutional law ; we deny it. The income 
tax law was not unconstitutional when it was 
passed ; it was not unconstitutional when it went 
before the Supreme Court for the first time; it 
did not become unconstitutional, until one of the 
judges changed his mind, and we cannot be ex- 
pected to know when a judge will change his 
mind. The income tax is just. It simply intends 
to put the burdens of government justly upon the 
backs of the people. I am in favor of an income 
tax. When I find a man who is not willing to ^ 
bear his share of the burdens of the government 
which protects him, I find a man who is unworthy 
to enjoy the blessings of a government like 
ours. 

i "They say that we are opposing national bank 
currency; it is true. If you will read what 



330 BRYAN'S CONVENTION SPEECH 

Thomas Benton said, you will find he said that, 
in searching history, he could find but one parallel 
to Andrew Jackson ; that was Cicero who de- 
stroyed the conspiracy of Cataline and saved 
Rome. Benton said that Cicero only did for 
Rome what Jackson did for us when he destroyed 
the bank conspiracy and saved America. We say 
in our platform that we believe that the right to 
coin and issue money is a function of government. 
We believe it. We believe that it is a part of 
sovereignty, and can no more with safety be del- 
egated to private individuals than we could afford 
to delegate to private individuals the power to 
make penal statutes or levy taxes. Mr. Jefferson, 
who was once regarded as good Democratic au- 
thority, seems to have differed in opinion from the 
gentleman who has addressed us on the part of 
the minority. Those who are opposed to this 
proposition tell us that the issue of paper money 
is a function of the bank, and that the Govern- 
ment ought to go out of the banking business. 
I stand with Jefferson rather than with them, and 
tell them, as he did, that the issue of money is a 
function of government, and that the banks ought 
to go out of the governing business. 

" They complain about the plank which declares 
against life tenure in office. They have tried to 
strain it to mean that which it does not mean. 
What we oppose by that plank is the life tenure 
which is being built up in Washington, and which 



BRYAN'S CONVENTION SPEECH 331 

excludes from participation in official benefits the 
humbler members of society. 

" Let me call your attention to two or three 
important things. The gentleman from New York 
says that he will propose an amendment to the 
platform, providing that the proposed change in 
our monetary system shall not effect contracts al- 
ready made. Let me remind you that there is no 
intention of affecting those contracts which ac- 
cording to present laws are made payable in gold, 
but if he means to say that we cannot change our 
monetary system without protecting those who 
have loaned money before the change was made, 
I desire to ask him where, in law or in morals, he 
can find justification for not protecting the debtors 
when the act of 1873 was passed, if he now in- 
sists that we must protect the creditors. 

"He says he will also propose an amendment 
which will provide for the suspension of free coin- 
age if we fail to maintain the parity within a year. 
We reply that when we advocate a policy which we 
believe will be successful, we are not compelled 
to raise a doubt as to our own sincerity by sug- 
gesting what we shall do if we fail. I ask him, if 
he would apply his logic to us, why he does not 
apply it to himself He says he wants this country 
to try to secure an international agreement. Why 
does he not tell us what he is going to do if he 
fails to secure an international agreement ? There 
is more reason for him to do that than there is 



332 BRYAN'S CONVENTION SPEECH 

for us to provide against the failure to maintain 
the parity. Our opponents have tried for twenty 
years to secure an international agreement, and 
those are waiting for it most patiently who do not 
want it at all. 

"And now, my friends, let me come to the par- 
amount issue. If they ask us why it is that we 
say more on the money question than we say upon 
the tariff question, I reply that, if protection has 
slain its thousands, the gold standard has slain its 
tens of thousands. If they ask us why we do not 
embody in our platform all the things that we be- 
lieve in, we reply, that when we have restored the 
money of the constitution, all other necessary re- 
forms will be possible ; but, that until this is done, 
there is no other reform that can be accomplished. 

"Why is it, that within three months, such a 
change has come over the country ? Three 
months ago, when it was confidently asserted 
that those who believe in the gold standard would 
frame our platform and nominate our candidates, 
even the advocates of the gold standard did not 
think that we could elect a president. And they 
had good reason for their doubt, because there is 
scarcely a State here to-day, asking for the gold 
standard, which is not in the absolute control of 
the Republican party. But note the change. 
Mr. McKinley was nominated at St. Louis, upon 
a platform which declared for the maintenance of 
the gold standard, until it can be changed into bi- 



BRYAN'S CONVENTION SPEECH 333 

metallism by international agreement. Mr. Mc- 
Kinley was the most popular man among the 
Republicans, and three months ago, everybody 
in the Republican party prophesied his election. 
How is it to-day ? Why, the man who was once 
pleased to think that he looked like Napoleon — 
that man shudders to-day, when he remembers 
that he was nominated on the anniversary of 
the battle of Waterloo. Not only that, but as he 
listens, he can hear with ever-increasing distinct- 
ness, the sound of the waves as they beat upon 
the lonely shores of St. Helena. 

** Why this change? Ah, my friends, is not the 
reason for the change evident to any one who 
will look at the matter? No private character, 
however pure, no personal popularity, however 
great, can protect from the avenging wrath of an 
indignant people, a man who will declare that he 
is in favor of fastening the gold standard upon 
this country, or who is willing to surrender the 
right of self-government, and place the legislative 
control of our affairs in the hands of foreign 
potentates and powers. 

" We go forth confident that we shall win. 
Why? Because upon the paramount issue of 
this campaign there is not a spot of ground upon 
which the enemy will dare to challenge batde. If 
they tell us that the gold standard is a good thing, 
we shall point to their platform and tell them that 
their platform pledges the party to get rid of the 



334 BRYAN'S CONVENTION SPEECH 

gold standard and substitute bimetallism. If the 
gold standard is a good thing, why try to get rid 
of it ? I call your attention to the fact that some 
of the very people who are in this convention to- 
day, and who tell us that we ought to declare in 
favor of international bimetallism — thereby declar- 
ing that the gold standard is wrong and that the 
principle of bimetallism is better — these very 
people, four months ago, were open and avowed 
advocates of the gold standard, and were then 
telling us that we could not legislate two metals 
together, even with the aid of all the world. If 
the gold standard is a good thing, we ought to 
declare in favor of its retention, and not in favor 
of abandoning it ; and if the gold standard is a 
bad thing, why should we wait until other nations 
are willing to help us to let go? Here is the line 
of battle, and we care not upon which issue they 
force the fight ; we are prepared to meet them 
on either issue or on both. If they tell us that 
the gold standard is the standard of civilization, 
we reply to them that this, the most enlightened 
of all the nations of the earth, has never declared 
for a gold standard, and that both the great par- 
ties this year are declaring against it. If the gold 
standard is the standard of civilization, why, my 
friends, should we not have it? If they come to 
meet us on that issue, we can present the history 
of our nation. More than that ; we can tell them 
that they will search the pages of history in vain 



BRYAN'S CONVENTION SPEECH 335 

to find a single instance where the common peo- 
ple of any land have ever declared themselves in 
favor of the gold standard. They can find where 
the holders of fixed investments have declared 
for a gold standard, but not where the masses 
have. 

"Mr. Carlisle said, in 1878, that this was a 
struggle between 'the idle holders of idle capital' 
and 'the struggling masses, who produce the 
wealth and pay the taxes of the country,' and, 
my friends, the question we are to decide is : 
Upon which side will the Democratic party fight : 
upon the side of the ' idle holders of idle capital,' 
or upon the side of ' the struggling masses ? ' 
That is the question which the party must answer 
first, and then it must be answered by each in- 
dividual hereafter. The sympathies of the Dem- 
ocratic party, as shown by the platform, are on 
the side of the struofalinor masses who have ever 
been the foundation of the Democratic party. 
There are two ideas of government. There are 
those who believe that, if you will only legislate 
to make the well-to-do prosperous, their pros- 
perity will leak through on those below. The 
Democratic idea, however, has been that if you 
legislate to make the masses prosperous, their 
prosperity will find its way up through every 
class which rests upon them. 

" You come to us and tell us that the great cit- 
ies are in favor of the gold standard ; we reply 



336 BRYAN'S CONVENTION SPEECH 

that the great cities rest upon our broad and fer- 
tile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave 
our farms and your cities will spring up again as 
if by magic ; but destroy our farms and the grass 
will grow in the streets of every city in the 
country. 

"My friends, we declare that this nation is able 
to legislate for its own people on every question, 
without waiting for the aid or consent of any other 
nation on earth ; and upon that issue we expect 
to carry every State in the Union. I shall not 
slander the inhabitants of the fair State of Massa- 
chusetts nor the inhabitants of the State of New 
York by saying that, when they are confronted with 
the proposition, they will declare that this nation is 
not able to attend to its own business. It is the 
issue of 1776 over again. Our ancestors, when 
but three millions in number, had the courage to 
declare their political independence of every other 
nation; shall we, their descendants, when we have 
grown to seventy millions, declare that we are 
less independent than our forefathers ? No, my 
friends, that will never be the verdict of our 
people. Therefore, we care not upon what lines 
the battle is fought. If they say bimetallism is 
good, but that we cannot have it until other na- 
tions help us, we reply that, instead of having a 
gold standard because England has, we will re- 
store bimetallism and then let England have 
bimetallism because the United States has it. If 



BRYAN'S CONVENTION SPEECH 337 

they dare to come out in the open field and de- 
fend the gold standard as a good thing, we will 
fight them to the uttermost. Having behind us 
the producing masses of this nadon and the 
world, supported by the commercial interests, the 
laboring interests and the toilers everywhere, we 
will answer their demand for a gold standard by 
saying to them : ' You shall not press down upon 
the brow of labor this crown of thorns ; you shall 
not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.' " 



CHAPTER XVII. 
CONVENTION— Continued. 

At the conclusion of this speech there was a 
demonstration, the Hke of which had never been 
seen in a convention, and which is also best de- 
scribed by again calling upon the Chicago Times- 
Herald, that paper reporting the scene in this 
language : 

" Nebraska was the central star around which 
all other silver delegations clustered, in the midst 
of the popular demonstration to the orator from 
the Platte Country. Chairman Smyth, of the 
Nebraska delegation, grasped the hand of Bryan 
when he returned from the stage, pale with victory 
and excitement. In another instant Smyth was 
on his chair waving the blue Nebraska standard 
with an energy born of ecstasy. The members of 
the Nebraska delegation pulled red bandannas 
from their pockets and waved them enthusiasti- 
cally. The sight of the emblem of 'the old 
Roman ' used in former campaigns, awakened the 
Ohio delegation across the aisle, 

" Bush, of Georgia, bewhiskered and strong of 
lung, ran down the aisle with the Georgia stand- 
ard toward the Nebraska chairs. A wild yell 

from the rear of the hall disclosed Joe Lacy, the 

338 



CONVENTION— CONTINUED 339 

dark-skinned Cherokee delegate from the Indian 
Territory corner, causing a panic in the New 
York delegation, through whose ranks this Indian 
plunged at breakneck speed with the territory 
standard, in an attempt to beat the Georgian to 
Bryan's side. Like a Tammany brave, this child 
of the southwest, walked all over dignity and feet 
of the passive New Yorkers, and reached the 
Nebraska section second. 

''' Then came the colors of Illinois, South Dakota, 
Missouri, Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, 
Iowa, Tennessee, Mississippi, Michigan, Utah, 
Nevada, Colorado and others in quick sequence. 

"Standing on chairs and yelling at the full 
capacity of lung power, the men who held the 
delegation standards reached as high as possible 
in their effort to reach the roof of the building. Bo 
Sweeney, of Colorado, six feet three inches from 
head to heel, shoved his long arm up near the 
rafters, while Hugh Brady pushed the colors of 
Missouri against those of Nebraska, to kiss the 
emblem of the new conqueror. Then Alabama 
led a grand march of glory around the delegates' 
pit. It was a parade of silver States fencing in 
the Bryan boom, and framing the hopes of the 
young Nebraskan with the shadows of coming 
events. 

"Bryan was carried off his feet in the rush. 
The air in his vicinity was a kaleidoscope of big 
hands, all eager to congratulate him. Some felt 



340 CONVENTION— CONTINUED 

honored to touch the hem of his alpaca coat. 
They surged and jostled him into the North 
Dakota delegation, three rows from his seat. 
Eight brawny men, including Buck Hinrichsen, of 
Illinois; Oldham, of Nebraska, and McLaurin, of 
Mississippi, grasped him and lifted him upon their 
shoulders. Bryan was physically a heavy load. 
It was like lifting an ice wagon, or a Graceo- 
Roman wrestling match with an upright piano in 
a moving van. 

" On the shoulders of his admirers Bryan en- 
deavored to fold his arms and look pleasant, but 
his bulk caused the support beneath him to 
shake, and he grabbed the shoulders of his sup- 
porters in much the same manner as a passenger 
seizes the last strap on an ' L ' train at the 
Sixty-third street curve. 

"At his own request they lowered him to the 
floor. In an instant the Nebraskan was the cen- 
ter of a stampede. The delegates swarmed 
around him and blockaded every inch of space. 
They sat on his lap, hugged him until his collar 
wilted, shook his hand, shouted into his ears, 
danced all over his feet and hemmed him in un- 
til he could scarcely get his breath. 

"Virginia came to him and announced that the 
old dominion delegation would vote for him and 
desert Bland. Then came Georgia, Mississippi, 
and other States. News came from the Ohio 
boys that McLean had released them to vote for 



CONVENTION— CONTINUED 341 

whom they pleased. Before adjournment, twenty 
Bryan votes had materialized in Ohio. 

"With face flushed with excitement into a 
deeper, darker red, the giant of the Georgia 
delegation returned to his seat, after planting the 
standard of the Southern States in its old place. 
His chest was extended with pride and his eyes 
shone with pleased delight. He had reason to 
be proud. It was he, Dr. E. B. Bush, who had 
led the demonstration of States. It was he who 
had carried the Georgia standard to the Nebraska 
fold and planted it among the Bryan delegates as 
a token of the enthusiasm and admiration of the 
Southern men for the silver orator. It was his 
example that brought the standards of the other 
silver States around Mr. Bryan in a wild wave of 
delight, such as had not often before been wit- 
nessed at a National Convention. 

"Carried away by his own delirious enthusiasm 
for the orator and the excitement of the moment, 
his giant form leaped into the arena of victorious 
applause, and he brought with him a rushing, shout- 
ing, cheering mob of standard-bearers. As the 
leader of the standard-bearers, Dr. Bush leaped 
into fame in the few bounds needed to carry him 
to the Nebraska delegation. A moment before 
he had been simply the distinct delegate from 
Miller County, Georgia. 

" 'When I am not here,' he said, 'I am in the 
Georgia penitentiary.' 



342 CONVENTION— CONTINUED 

"This did not mean that he had laid aside the 
stripes and hard labor and donned the badge of 
a delegate to the Democratic National Conven- 
tion. Dr. Bush Is the chief physician of the 
Georgia penitentiary, and only leaves his duties 
when the National Convention opens. He little 
thought he would become the leader this year of 
an extraordinary demonstration over the oratori- 
cal effort of William J. Bryan. 

"Then the Georgia delegates began to send 
telegrams to their friends In the South, which 
read : ' Bryan will be nominated. He Is the 
best man.' And this was the sentiment of the 
Georgia delegation after hearing the Nebraska 
man's speech. The Georgians said they were 
ready to throw the mantle of charity over New 
York, and to entreat it to return to the fold. 

" The feeling that Bryan would be nominated on 
the second or third ballot was general among the 
delegates of those States, the standards of which 
had been planted In front of the Nebraska orator, 
with the exception of those who were pledged to 
favorite sons. The latter considered the demon- 
stration only one of appreciation and pleasure at 
the eloquent speech of Mr. Bryan. 

" Maine did not pluck Its standard from Its rest, 
but a feeling grew among the delegates that Mr. 
Bryan was the only silver man they would care to 
vote for. And then some of them said they would 
cast their ballots for him any way. 



CONVENTION— CONTINUED 343 

"Ollie M. James, chairman ofthe Kentucky dele- 
gation, was another man who shared somewhat in 
the honors that fell to the lot of Dr. Bush. 
After shouting himself hoarse in the waving of 
the standards in the Nebraska fold he led the 
march down the aisles and round the floor of the 
convention hall. It was meant only as a compli- 
ment to Mr. Bryan on his eloquent and masterly 
argument for free silver, he said, but he also 
thought the Nebraska man would be a dangerous 
rival for the other presidential candidates. 

"Mississippi was not far from the Nebraska fold, 
but it was not until the giant of Georgia had 
leaped to the front that R. H. Henry clambered 
over his fellow-delegates and seized the standard. 
'The demonstration was simply one of earnest 
admiration for the eloquence of Mr. Bryan,' said 
Governor McLaurin, 'and I do not think it means 
his nomination as President' 

" But some of the other Mississippi delegates 
were looking favorably on the Nebraska man as 
the solution of the difficulty caused by the multi- 
tude of favorite sons. 

" Michigan delegates — the silver men, not the 
four gold delegates-at-Iarge — were to the front 
in the demonstration. George P. Hummer, the 
silver man from Michigan who led the fight before 
the national committee in favor of seating the 
silver men, carried the standard to Nebraska. 
And he was ready to vote for Bryan if the latter's 



344 CONVENTION— CONTINUED 

name came up for nomination. And so all the 
Michigan delegates talked, with the exception of 
the gold men. 

" Missouri was not backward in applauding 
Bryan, and it sent J. D. Gibson to join the pro- 
cession of the standards. 

j " The Boies men from Iowa were caught in the 
i swirl of enthusiasm and joined the procession. 

"J. C. Rich was the man who carried the Idaho 
standard. He said it was the feeling of the State 
that Bryan would be nominated. So did Bo 
Sweeney, who got in the procession of the stand- 
ards for California. 

"Alabama was so enthusiastic that two men — 
A. H. Keller and J. A. Roundtree — carried the 
standard to Nebraska. Alabama was delirious 
for Bryan, and talked about having the nominat- 
ing speech made by a member of the delegation. 

"Louisiana sent Joseph St. Amant to the front 
with the standard, and he thought Bryan would 
be nominated. Sam Taylor seized the standard 
for Arkansas and almost carried pledges for 
Bryan as the nominee of the party. W. S. Hope- 
well, of New Mexico, felt the same way, as well 
as his fellow-delegates. J. G. Johnson, of Kansas, 
the standard-bearer in the demonstration, was too 
enthusiastic about Bryan to think of any other 
possible nominee. Colonel R. W. Davis, of 
Florida, carried off the standard because he want- 
ed to be in the hurrah. And so it seemed with 
other silver States." 



»m^. 




Hon. a. p. GORMAX. 




Hon. DAVID B. HILL. 



CONVENTION— CONTINUED 347 

A roll of the states was called on the reso- 
lutions, and the minority report was rejected, 
the majority report being immediately afterward 
adopted, and the money question was then and 
there made the issue of the campaign. The 
Platform is as follows : 

We, the Democrats of the United States, in 
national convention assemble to reaffirm our alle- 
giance to those great essential principles of justice 
and liberty upon which our institutions are found- 
ed, and which the great Democratic party has 
advocated from Jefferson's time to our own — free- 
dom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of 
conscience, the preservation of personal rights, 
the equaUty of all citizens before the law, and 
the faithful observance of constitutional limitations. 

During all these years the Democratic party 
has resisted the tendency of selfish interests to 
the centralization of governmental power and 
steadfastly maintained the integrity of the dual 
scheme of government established by the found- 
ers of this republic of republics. Under its guid- 
ance and teachings the great principle of local 
self-government has found its best expression in 
the maintenance of the rights of the States and 
in its assertion of the necessity of confining the 
General Government to the exercise of the pow- 
ers granted by the Constitution of the United 
States. 

The Constitution of the United States guaran- 



348 CONVENTION— CONTINUED 

tees to every citizen the rights of civil and religious 
liberty. The Democratic party has always been 
the exponent of political liberty and religious free- 
dom, and it renews its obligations and reaffirms 
its devotion to these fundamental principles of the 
Constitution. 

j Recognizing that the money system is para- 
1 mount to all others at this time, we invite attention 
to the fact that the Federal Constitution names 
silver and gold together as the money metals of 
the United States, and that the first coinage law 
passed by Congress under the Constitution, made 
the silver dollar the monetary unit, and admitted 
gold to free coinage at a ratio based upon the 
silver dollar unit. 

We declare that the act of 1873 demonetizing 
silver without the knowledge or approval of the 
American people has resulted in the appreciation 
of gold, and a corresponding fall in the price of 
commodities produced by the people; a heavy 
increase in the burden of taxation, and of all debts, 
public and private ; the enrichment of the money- 
lending class at home and abroad ; prostration of 
industry and impoverishment of the people. 

We are unalterably opposed to monometallism, 
which has locked fast the prosperity of an indus- 
trial people in the paralysis of hard times. Gold 
monometallism is a British policy, and its adoption 
has brought other nations into financial servitude 
to London. It is not only un-American, but anti- 



CONVENTION— CONTINUED 349 

American, and it can be fastened on the United 
States only by the stifling of that spirit and love 
of liberty which proclaimed our political indepen- 
dence in 1776 and won it in the War of the 
Revolution. 

We demand the free and unlimited coinage of 
both silver and gold at the present legal ratio of 
16 to I, without waiting for the aid or consent of 
any other nation. We demand that the standard 
silver dollar shall be a full legal tender equally 
with gold for all debts, public and private, and 
we favor such legislation as will prevent for the 
future the demonetization of any kind of legal 
tender money by private contract. 

We are opposed to the policy and practice of 
surrendering to the holders of obligations of the 
United States the option reserved by law to the 
Government of redeeming such obligations in 
either silver coin or gold coin. 

We are opposed to the issuing of interest-bear- 
ing bonds of the United States in time of peace, 
and condemn the trafficking with banking syndi- 
cates, which in exchange for bonds and at an 
enormous profit to themselves, supply the Fed- 
eral Treasury with gold to maintain the policy of 
gold monometallism. 

Congress alone has the power to coin and issue 
money, and President Jackson declared that this 
power could not be delegated to corporations or 
individuals. 



350 CONVENT ION— CONTINUED 

We, therefore, denounce the issuance of notes 
intended to circulate as money by national banks 
as in derogation of the Constitution, and we de- 
mand that all paper which is made a legal tender 
for public and private debts, or which is receiva- 
ble for dues to the United States, shall be issued 
by the Government of the United States and shall 
be redeemable in coin. 

We hold that tariff duties should be levied for 
purposes of revenue, such duties to be so ad- 
justed as to operate equally throughout the coun- 
try, and not discriminate between class or section, 
and that taxation should be limited by the needs 
of the Government honestly and economically 
administered. We denounce as disturbing to 
business the Republican threat to restore the 
McKinley law, which has been twice condemned 
by the people in national elections, and which, 
enacted under the false plea of protection to 
home industry, proved a prolific breeder of trusts 
and monopolies, enriched the few at the expense 
of the many, restricted trade, and deprived the 
producers of the great American staples of ac- 
cess to their natural markets. Until the money 
question is settled we are opposed to any agita- 
tion for further changes in our tariff laws, except 
such as are necessary to make up the deficit in 
revenue caused by the adverse decision of the 
Supreme Court on the income tax. 

There would be no deficit in the revenue but 



CONVENTION— CONTINUED 351 

for the annulment by the Supreme Court of a law 
passed by a Democratic Congress in strict pur- 
suance of the uniform decisions of that court for 
nearly one hundred years, that court having 
under that decision sustained constitutional ob- 
jections to its enactment which have been over- 
ruled by the ablest Judges who had ever sat on 
that bench. 

We declare that it is the duty of Congress to 
use all the constitutional power which remains 
after that decision, or which may come from its 
reversal by the court as it may hereafter be con- 
stituted, so that the burdens of taxation may be 
equally and impartially laid to the end that wealth 
may bear its proportion of the expenses of the 
Government. 

We hold that the most efficient way of protect- 
ing American labor is to prevent the importation 
of foreign pauper labor to compete with it in the 
home market, and that the value of the home 
market to our American farmers and artisans is 
greatly reduced by a vicious monetary system 
which depresses the prices of their products 
below the cost of production and thus deprives 
them of the means of purchasing the products of 
our home manufactures, and as labor creates the 
wealth of the country we demand the passage of 
such laws as may be necessary to protect it in all 
its rights. 

The absorption of wealth by the few, the con- 



352 CONVENTION— CONTINUED 

solldatlon of our leading railroad systems, and 
the formation of trusts and pools require a stricter 
control by the Federal Government of those ar- 
teries of commerce. We demand the enlarge- 
ment of the powers of the Interstate Commerce 
Commission and such restrictions and guarantees 
in the control of railroads as will protect the 
people from robbery and oppression. 

We are in favor of the arbitration of differ- 
ences between employers engaged in interstate 
commerce and their employes, and recommend 
such legislation as is necessary to carry out this 
principle. 

We denounce the profligate waste of the money 
wrung from the people by oppressive taxation and 
the lavish appropriations of recent Republican 
Congresses, which have kept taxes high, while 
the labor that pays them is unemployed and the 
products of the people's toil are depressed in 
prices till they no longer repay the cost of pro- 
duction. We demand a return to that simplicity 
and economy which befit a democratic govern- 
ment and a reduction in the number of useless 
offices, the salaries of which drain the substance 
of the people. 

We denounce the arbitrary interference by 
Federal authorities in local affairs as a violation of 
the Constitution of the United States and a crime 
against free institutions, and we especially object 
to government by injunction as a new and highly 



CONVENTION-CONTINUED 353 

dangerous form of oppression, by which Federal 
Judges, in contempt of the laws of the States and 
rights of citizens, become at once legislators, 
Judges and executioners, and we approve the bill 
passed at the last session of the United States 
Senate, and now pending in the House, relative 
to contempts in Federal courts and providing for 
trials by jury in certain cases of contempt. 

No discrimination should be indulged in by the 
Government of the United States in favor of any 
of its debtors. We approve of the refusal of the 
Fifty-third Congress to pass the Pacific railroads 
funding bill, and denounce the effort of the pres- 
ent Republican Congress to enact a similar 
measure. 

Recognizing the just claims of deserving Union 
soldiers, we heartily indorse the rule of the pres- 
ent Commissioner of Pensions, that no names shall 
be arbitrarily dropped from the pension roll, and 
the fact of enlistment and service should be 
deemed conclusive evidence against disease and 
disability before the enlistment. 

We favor the admission of the Territories of 
New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma into the 
Union as States, and we favor the early admission 
of all the Territories having the necessary popu- 
lation and resources to entitle them to Statehood, 
and while they remain Territories we hold that the 
officials appointed to administer the government 

of any Territory, together with the District of 
21 



354 CONVENTION— CONTINUED 

Columbia and Alaska, should be bona-fide resh 
dents of the Territory or District in which their 
duties are to be performed. The Democratic 
party believes in home rule, and that all public 
lands of the United States should be appropriated 
to the establishment of free homes for American 
citizens. 

We recommend that the Territory of Alaska be 
granted a delegate in Congress, and that the 
general land and timber laws of the United States 
be extended to said Territory. 

The Monroe doctrine, as originally declared, 
and as interpreted by succeeding Presidents, is a 
permanent part of the foreign policy of the United 
States, and must at all times be maintained. 

We extend our sympathy to the people of Cuba 
in their heroic struggle for liberty and indepen- 
dence. 

We are opposed to life tenure in the public 
service. We favor appointments based upon 
merit, fixed terms of office, and such an adminis- 
tration of the civil service laws as will afibrd equal 
opportunities to all citizens of ascertained fitness. 

We declare it to be the unwritten law of this 
Republic, established by custom and usage of one 
hundred years, and sanctioned by the example of 
the greatest and wisest of those who founded and 
have maintained our Government, that no man 
should be eligible for a third term of the Presi- 
dential office. 



CONVENTION— CONTINUED 355 

The Federal Government should care for and 
improve the Mississippi River and other great 
waterways of the Republic, so as to secure for the 
interior States easy and cheap transportation to 
tide-water. When any waterway of the Repub- 
lic is of sufficient importance to demand aid of 
the Government, such aid should be extended 
upon a definite plan of continuous work until 
permanent improvement is secured. 

Confiding in the justice of our cause and the 
necessity of its success at the polls, we submit the 
foregoing declaration of principles and purposes 
to the considerate judgment of the American 
people. We invite the support of all citizens who 
approve them and who desire to have them made 
effective through legislation for the relief of the 
people and the restoration of the country's pros- 
perity. 

After the adoption of the platform, the conven- 
tion took a recess till evening. 

Previous to this time the convention had not 
considered Mr. Bryan as a presidential nominee, 
but conditions had changed. States volunteered 
their support if his name should be presented. 
His name seemed to be upon the lips of every- 
body in the convention city, and the prediction 
was freely made that evening that he would be 
the nominee. Many States, which had no favorite 
sons of their own, and had not been committed 
to one of the other avowed candidates, were anx 



356 CONVENTION— CONTINU'ED 

ious for the honor to present the name of Mr. 
Bryan as a candidate. There was no plan, and 
no organization, but a genuine spontaneous senti- 
ment that he was the logical candidate, made so 
by the developments in the convention, and sup- 
ported by his years of zealous work on the lines 
laid down in the platform adopted. The delegates 
claimed that the only organization they needed 
was an opportunity to vote for him, Mr. Bryan. 
This feeling did not decrease during the recess, 
but gained strength as the convention proceeded 
with its deliberations. 

Upon reassembling in the evening, it was 
decided to devote the time to the presentation of 
candidates for the presidential nomination. In 
pursuance of this plan, these names were placed 
before the convention : 

Richard P. Bland, of Missouri ; Horace Boies, 
of Iowa ; Governor Claude Matthews, of Indiana ; 
John R. McLean, of Ohio ; Senator J. S. Black- 
burn, of Kentucky ; Robert E. Pattison, of Penn- 
sylvania ; Sylvester Pennoyer, of Oregon, and 
W. J. Bryan, of Nebraska. 

All the oratory which Iowa could boast of tried 
to enthuse the convention for Gov. Boies, and 
failed utterly. Then a young woman took the 
matter up and succeeded gloriously. 

She was Minnie Murray, of Nashua, Floyd Co., 
la., and after Boies' name had been duly put in 
nomination and both delegates and gallery had 



CONVENTION— CONTINUED 357 

received It in an apathetic sort of way, she stood 
up In her seat at the extreme southern end of the 
convention and in two minutes had converted that 
crowd of 20,000 people from an orderly assembly 
Into a howling mob. 

Miss Murray Is tall and strong. She has the 
beauty which always goes with good health, and 
the attractiveness which is a necessary part of en- 
thusiasm. And last night she was enthusiastic. 
She was dressed all In white, and, after the cold 
reception which had greeted the nomination of 
Boies had become so pronounced as to be almost 
painful, she did the only thing which could have 
been done to rescue her favorite candidate from 
what seemed an unfortunate situation. 

With her eyes ablaze with enthusiasm and 
every fibre in her frame trembling with excite- 
ment, she stretched out her hands so that the 
white muslin sleeves fell back from her arms and 
began shouting for Boles. 

Her voice was clear and could be heard. How 
she did shout ! Some one near by handed her a 
small American flag, and she waved it frantically 
over her head, waved it so strongly that the stick 
was broken In an Instant. By this time there was 
a crowd around her and a dozen more flags were 
reached to her at once. Then she had two and 
she waved them both, but again the sticks broke 
and again she had to be supplied with more. 

By this time she had aroused the convention. 



358 CONVENTIOX— CONTINUED 

She was the focus of 20,000 pairs of eyes, and 
10,000 people seemed, each one, to be trying to 
excel her in cheering for the candidate from Iowa. 
Every delegate was on his feet, the galleries were 
in an uproar, and from all over that vast hall 
went up one mighty roar, of which this Iowa girl 
was both the inciter and the controlling spirit. 

By this time the band had begun to play. The 
crowd shouted in chorus, and Miss Murray waved 
her flags in time with the air. The Iowa dele- 
gates were already parading the hall with a large 
banner, on it a picture of Gov. Boies, and they 
made straight for this enthusiastic girl, who was so 
loyally backing up their cause. The banner was 
handed to her, and, although it was heavy, and 
she had been using every nerve and muscle she 
possessed for fully fifteen minutes, yet she grasped 
the big standard and swung the silken folds back 
and forth in the air. 

Then that crowd did yell. It seemed as if it 
would take off the roof, and from everywhere 
and every side went up the shout of, "Three 
cheers for the girl in the white dress." 

But there was more work for Miss Murray to 
do yet. The Iowa delegates insisted she must 
come down on the floor, so they put her and her 
companion. Miss Margaret Gorman, also of 
Nashua, at their head, and with these two girls as 
their standard-bearers marched through the aisles 
of the delegates' seats. Then, when the shout- 



CONVENTION— CONTINUED 



359 



ing was done, they gave the two women seats in 
their delegation. 

Miss Murray, with Miss Gorman, runs a weekly 
newspaper in Nashua called the Reporter. They 
are each about twenty-two years old, as bright as 
they make girls out in Iowa, which is saying a good 
deal, and they conduct a lively paper. They are 
editors, reporters, proprietors, and business man- 
agers, and it is devoted to home news and local 
gossip. In politics it is independent, but Miss 
Murray is a strong supporter of Governor Boies, 
having been a personal friend of his daughter, 
now dead, and a frequent visitor at the Gov- 
ernor's home in Waterloo. She was born and 
raised in Iowa, and, as she expressed it last night, 
went into the newspaper business three years 
ago for the purpose of making a living. 

Speaking of the affair after it was all over she 
said : — 

" Nobody is as much surprised as I am at what 
I did. We all love Horace Boies out in Iowa, 
and when his name was being cheered there was 
not enough noise to suit me in our part of the 
hall. In order to do all I could I got up on a 
chair and hurrahed just as loud as I could. There 
was a Missouri flag near by, but they refused to 
let me have it, so I got a smaller one. I didn't 
know I was attracting so much attention until 
they brought the banner up to where I sat." 

The act was undoubtedly absolutely without 



36o CONVENTION— CONTINUED 

premeditation. It was that of a spirited, enthusi- 
astic girl, whose whole soul was wrapped up in 
what was going on. 

Georgia, the first of the States to pledge its 
solid vote for him, furnished the man to place Mr. 
Bryan's name before the convention in H. T. 
Lewis, one of the delegates from that State. The 
nomination was seconded by Theodore F. Klutz, 
of North CaroHna; George Fred Williams, of 
Massachusetts, and Thomas J. Kernan, of Louis- 
iana. 

The nominations were not completed till after 
1 2 o'clock that night, and the convention adjourned 
until the next morning. 

Friday was the fourth day of the deliberations, 
and it was fraught with much that will make the 
convention noteworthy in the political history of 
the country. There had been little campaigning 
for the individual candidates previous to this day, 
as had been customary in conventions of this 
character. The almost universal feeling among 
the delegates had been that a platform of princi- 
ples should be framed which would best meet the 
existing political conditions, and then find a candi- 
date to fit the platform. The first and most 
important part of the work was completed. The 
next step was to be taken. The delegates had 
nothing else to do after a night for rest and 
reflection but calmly consider the many candidates 
before them, and select the one they thought best 



CONVENTION— CONTINUED 361 

represented the spirit of the platform, and would 
best interpret it to the people. A roll call was 
ordered, and the work upon which so much 
depended, and upon which the eyes of a nation 
were turned, was begun. 

The result of the first ballot was as follows : 
Bland 235, Boies 85, Matthews 2)1, McLean 54, 
Bryan 119, Blackburn 83, Pattison 95, Pennoyer 
8, Teller 8, Hill i, Russell 2, Campbell i, Steven- 
son 7, Tillman 17, not voting 178. 

All of the delegates from New York and New 
Jersey, and part of those from Connecticut, Dela- 
ware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, 
Minnesota, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Ver- 
mont and W^isconsin, refused to vote for a candi- 
date for president, giving as a reason that they 
could not endorse the platform adopted by the 
convention. With varying numbers they main- 
tained that position throughout the balloting. 

The second ballot resulted as follows : Bland 
283, Boies 41, Matthews 2>Zy McLean 53, Bryan 
190, Blackburn 41, Pattison 100, scattering and 
not voting 189, 

The third ballot: Bland 291, Boies z^, Mat- 
thews 36, McLean 54, Bryan 219, Blackburn 27, 
Pattison 97, scattering and not voting 172. 

The fourth ballot: Bland 241, Boies Z2» Mat- 
thews 36, McLean 46, Bryan 280, Blackburn 27, 
Pattison 97, scattering and not voting 170. 

Bryan was now in the lead and confusion 



362 CONVENTION— CONTINUED 

reigned in the convention hall. It became ap- 
parent he was destined to be the winner and 
Blackburn and McLean both withdrew and threw 
their strength to the Nebraska man. It was some 
time before sufficient order could be secured in 
the convention to permit another roll call. When 
it was ordered it resulted as follows : 

Bland 106, Boies 26, Matthews 31, Bryan 500, 
Pattison 95, scattering and not voting 1 70. 

It required 512 votes to secure a nomination 
and Mr. Bryan just lacked 12 at the completion of 
the roll call, but there was a stampede at this 
time by States which changed their votes to Mr. 
Bryan, giving him the nomination without ques- 
tion, which was afterward made by acclamation 
on the part of those participating in the convention. 

The reader will pardon a further reproduction 
from the report in the Chicago Times-Herald at 
this time, reading as follows : 

"Without any modon the chairman then de- 
clared an informal recess of an indefinite length, 
and the convention readily fell into the scheme in 
order to permit the Bryan men to give vent to 
their enthusiasm, which had not all escaped in the 
previous demonstration made by them in favor of 
their candidate. Every person in the hall arose 
to his or her feet, and, almost too tired to yell, 
still sent up a shout for the Nebraska man. Once 
more the procession of the standards paraded 
about the hall, all taking part in the march but 
those of Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York, 




Hoxx. JOSEPH V.'. BAILEY. 




I ox. JOHN :\i. rAL:\iEK 



CONVENTION— CONTINUED 365 

New Jersey, New Hampshire, Maine, Wisconsin, 
Massachusetts, Delaware and Connecticut, which 
remained soHdly rooted in their places, while the 
crowd seethed and shrieked around them. 

The Bland Marching Club and its band, which 
had been headed off many a time from parading 
through the hall, now got in their fine work and 
headed the procession. With ' Marching Through 
Georgia ' and ' Dixie ' by the band, and the 
tramp, tramp, tramp of thousands of feet, the 
crowd entertained itself through a period of ten 
minutes, with an occasional shriek of ' Bryan, 
Bryan.' Not much attempt was made by the 
officials of the convention to reduce the riotous 
elements to submission, but after twelve minutes 
of chaos the outburst died out through exhaustion." 

After order had been restored, the Convention 
took a recess till evening, but, upon reassembling, 
then as prompdy adjourned until Saturday 
morning. 

The selection of a candidate for Vice-President 
was the only work before the convention on 
Saturday, and fifteen names were voted for on 
the first ballot. After that they dropped out one 
by one, until on the fifth ballot Arthur Sewall, of 
Maine, received the necessary number of votes, 
and his nomination was made by acclamation. 

The purpose for which the convention had 
assembled was now accomplished, and it ad- 
journed sine die to refer the result of its delibera-^ 
tions to the people for their approval. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



HON. W. J. BRYAN'S SPEECH AT NOTI- 
FICATION MEETING, MADISON 
SQUARE GARDEN, N. Y. 

August 12, 1896. 

Mr. Chairman, Gentlemen of the Committee 
and Fellow Citizens : I shall, at a future day and 
in a formal letter, accept the nomination which is 
now tendered by the Notification Committee, and 
I shall at that time touch upon the issues presented 
by the platform. It is fitting, however, that at this 
time, in the presence of those here assembled, I 
speak at some length in regard to the campaign 
upon which we are now entering. We do not 
underestimate the forces arrayed against us, nor 
are we unmindful of the importance of the struggle 
in which we are engaged ; but, relying for success 
upon the righteousness of our cause, we shall de- 
fend with all possible vigor the positions taken 
by our party. We are not surprised that some 
of our opponents, in the absence of better argu- 
ment, resort to abusive epithets, but they may 
rest assured that no language, however violent, no 

366 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 367 

invectives, however vehement, will lead us to 
depart a single hair's breadth from the course 
marked out by the National Convention. The 
citizen, either public or private, who assails 
the character and questions the patriotism of 
the delegates assembled in the Chicago con- 
vention, assails the character and questions the 
patriotism of the millions who have arrayed them- 
selves under the banner there raised. 

It has been charged by men standing high in 
business and political circles that our platform is a 
menace to private security and public safety ; and 
it has been asserted that those whom I have the 
honor for the time being, to represent, not only 
meditate an attack upon the rights of property, 
but are the foes both of social order and national 
honor. 

Those who stand upon the Chicago platform 
are prepared to make known and to defend every 
motive which influences them, every purpose 
which animates them, and every hope which in- 
spires them. They understand the genius of our 
institutions, they are staunch supporters of the 
form of government under which we live, and they 
build their faith upon foundations laid by the 
fathers. Andrew Jackson has stated, with admi- 
rable clearness and with an emphasis which can- 
not be surpassed, both the duty and the sphere of 
government. He said: 

Distinctions in society will always exist under every just government 
Equality of talents, of education or of wealth, cannot b« produced by 



368 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

human institutions. In the full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven and the 
fruits of superior industry, economy and virtue, every man ii equally en- 
titled to protection by law. 

We yield to none in our devotion to the doc- 
trine just enunciated. Our campaign has not for 
its object the reconstruction of society. We can- 
not insure to the vicious the fruits of a virtuous 
life ; we would not invade the home of the provi- 
dent in order to supply the wants of the spend- 
thrift ; we do not propose to transfer the rewards 
of industry to the lap of indolence. Property is 
and will remain the stimulus to endeavor and the 
compensation for toil. We believe, as asserted 
in the Declaration of Independence, that all men 
are created equal ; but that does hot mean that all 
men are or can be equal in possessions, in ability 
or in merit ; it simply means that all shall stand 
equal before the law, and that government officials 
shall not, in making, construing or enforcing the 
law, discriminate between citizens. 

I assert that property rights, as well as the 
rights of persons, are safe in the hands of the 
common people. Abraham Lincoln, in his mes- 
sage sent to Congress in December, 1861, said : 
" No men living are more worthy to be trusted than 
those who toil up from poverty; none less inclined 
to take or touch ought which they have not hon- 
esdy earned." I repeat this language with un- 
qualified approval, and join with him in the warn- 
ing which he added, namely: "Let them beware 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 369 

of surrendering a political power which they al- 
ready possess, and which power, if surrendered, 
will surely be used to close the doors of advance- 
ment against such as they, and to fix new disabili- 
ties and burdens upon them, till all of liberty shall 
be lost." Those who daily follow the injunction, 
*' In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread," 
are now, as they ever have been, the bulwark of 
law and order — the source of our nation's great- 
ness in time of peace, and its surest defenders in 
time of war. 

But I have only read a part of Jackson's utter- 
ance — let me give you his conclusion: "But when 
the law undertakes to add to those natural and 
just advantages artificial disdnctions — to grant 
titles, gratuities and exclusive privileges — to make 
the rich richer and the potent more powerful — the 
humble members of society, the farmers, me- 
chanics and the day-laborers, who have neither 
the time nor the means of securing like favors for 
themselves, have a right to complain of the in- 
justice of their government." Those who sup- 
port the Chicago platform indorse all of the quo- 
tation from Jackson— the latter part as well as the 
former part. 

We are not surprised to find arrayed against 
us those who are the beneficiaries of government 
favoridsm — they have read our platform. Nor 
are we surprised to learn that we must in this 
campaign face the hostility of those who find a 



370 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

pecuniary advantage in advocating the doctrine 
of non-interference when great aggregations of 
wealth are trespassing upon the rights of indi- 
viduals. We welcome such opposition — it is the 
highest indorsement which could be bestowed 
upon us. We are content to have the co-opera- 
tion of those who desire to have the government 
administered without fear or favor. It is not the 
wish of the general public that trusts should 
spring into existence and override the weaker 
members of society ; it is not the wish of the gen- 
eral public that these trusts should destroy com- 
petition and then collect such tax as they will 
from those who are at their mercy ; nor is it the 
fault of the general public that the instrumentali- 
ties of government have been so often prostituted 
to purposes of private gain. Those who stand 
upon the Chicago platform believe that the gov- 
ernment should not only avoid wrongdoing, but 
that it should also prevent wrongdoing, and they 
believe that the law should be enforced alike 
against all enemies of the public weal. They do 
not excuse petit larceny, but they declare that 
grand larceny is equally a crime. They do not de- 
fend the occupation of the highwayman who robs 
the unsuspecting traveller, but they include among 
the transcrressors those who, through the more 
polite and less hazardous means of legislation, 
appropriate to their own use the proceeds of the 
toil of others. The commandment "Thou shalt 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 371 

not steal," thundered from Sinai and reiterated in 
the legislation of all nations, is no respecter of 
persons. It must be applied to the great as well 
as to the small ; to the strong as well as the weak; 
to the corporate persons created by law as well 
as to the person of flesh and blood created by the 
Almighty. No government is worthy of the name 
which is not able to protect from every arm up- 
lifted for his injury the humblest citizen who lives 
beneath the flag. It follows as a necessary con- 
clusion that vicious legislation must be remedied 
by the people who suffer from the effects of such 
legislation, and not by those who enjoy its benefits. 
The Chicago platform has been condemned by 
some because it dissents from an opinion ren- 
dered by the Supreme Court declaring the income 
tax law unconstitutional. Our critics even go so 
far as to apply the name Anarchist to those who 
stand upon that plank of the platform. It must 
be remembered that we expressly recognize the 
binding force of that decision so long as it stands 
as a part of the law of the land. There is in the 
platform no suggestion of an attempt to dispute 
the authority of the Supreme Court, The party 
is simply to use all the constitutional power which 
remains after that decision, or which may come 
from its reversal by the court as it may here- 
after be constituted. Is there any disloyalty in 
that pledge? For a hundred years the Supreme 
Court of the United States has sustained the 



372 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

principle which underHes the income tax. Some 
twenty years ago this same court sustained with- 
out a dissenting voice an income tax law almost 
identical with the one recently overthrown ; has 
not a future court as much right to return to the 
judicial precedents of a century as the present 
court had to depart from them? When courts 
allow rehearings, they admit that error is possible; 
the late decision ao^ainst the income tax was ren- 
dered by a majority of one after a rehearing. 

While the money question overshadows all 
other questions in importance, I desire it dis- 
tinctly understood that I shall offer no apology 
for the income tax plank of the Chicago platform. 
The last income tax sought to apportion the 
burdens of government more equitably among 
those who enjoy the protection of the govern- 
ment. At present the expenses of the Federal 
government, collected through internal revenue 
taxes and import duties, are especially burden- 
some upon the poorer classes of society. A law 
which collects from some citizens more than their 
share of the taxes, and collects from other 
citizens less than their share, is simply an indirect 
means of transferring one man's property to an- 
other man's pocket, and while the process may be 
quite satisfactory to the men who escape just taxa- 
tion, it will never be satisfactory those who are over- 
burdened. The last income tax law, with its ex- 
emption provisions, when considered in connection 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 373 

with other methods of taxation in force, was not 
unjust to the possessors of large incomes, because 
they were not compelled to pay a total federal tax 
greater than their share. The income tax is not 
new, nor is it based upon hostility to the rich. 
The system is employed in several of the most 
important nations of Europe, and every income 
tax law now upon the statute books in any land, 
so far as I have been able to ascertain, contains 
an exemption clause. While the collection of an 
income tax in other countries does not make it 
necessary for this nation to adopt the system, yet 
it ought to moderate the language of those who 
denounce the income tax as an assault upon the 
well-to-do. 

Not only shall I refuse to apologize for the 
advocacy of an income tax law by the national 
convention, but I shall also refuse to apologize for 
the exercise by it of the right to dissent from a 
decision of the Supreme Court. In a govern- 
ment like ours every public official is a public 
servant, whether he holds office by election or by 
appointment, whether he serves for a term of 
years or during good behavior, and the people 
have a right to criticise his official acts. " Confi- 
dence is everywhere the parent of despotism ; 
free government exists in jealousy and not in 
confidence" — these are the words of Thomas 
Jefferson, and I submit that they present a truer 
conception of popular government than that 



374 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

entertained by those who would prohibit an un- 
favorable comment upon a court decision. Truth 
will vindicate itself; only error fears free speech. 
No public official, who conscientiously discharges 
his duty as he sees it, will desire to deny to those 
whom he serves the right to discuss his official 
conduct. 

Now let me ask you to consider the paramount 
question of this campaign — the money question. 
It is scarcely necessary to defend the principle of 
bimetallism. No national party during the entire 
history of the United States has ever declared 
against it, and no party in this campaign has had 
the temerity to oppose it. Three parties — the 
Democratic, Populist, and Silver Parties — have 
not only declared for bimetallism, but have out- 
lined the specific legislation necessary to restore 
silver to its ancient position by the side of gold. 
The Republican platform expressly declares that 
bimetallism is desirable when it pledges the 
Republican party to aid in securing it as soon as 
the assistance of certain foreign nations can be 
obtained. Those who represented the minority 
sentiment in the Chicago Convention opposed 
the free coinage of silver by the United States 
by independent action on the ground that, in 
their judgment, it " would retard or entirely 
prevent the establishment of international bime- 
tallism, to which the efforts of the government 
should be steadily directed." When they asserted 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 375 

that the efforts of the government should be 
steadily directed toward the establishment of in- 
ternational bimetallism, they condemned mono- 
metallism. The gold standard has been weighed 
in the balance and found wanting. Take from it 
the powerful support of the money-owning and 
money-changing classes and it cannot stand for 
one day in any nation in the world. It was fast- 
ened upon the United States without discussion 
before the people, and its friends have never yet 
been willing to risk a verdict before the voters 
upon that issue. 

There can be no sympathy or co-operation be- 
tween the advocates of a universal gold standard 
and the advocates of bimetallism. Between bi- 
metallism, whether independent or international, 
and the gold standard there is an impassable gulf 
Is this quadrennial agitation in favor of inter- 
national bimetallism conducted in good faith, or 
do our opponents really desire to maintain the 
gold standard permanently? Are they willing to 
confess the superiority of a double standard when 
joined in by the leading nations of the world, or 
do they still insist that gold is the only metal suit- 
able for standard money among civilized nations? 
If they are, in fact, desirous of securing bimetallism, 
we may expect them to point out the evils of a 
gold standard and defend bimetallism as a system. 

If, on the other hand, they are bending their 
energies toward the permanent establishment of 



Z7^ BRYAN'S ACX-EPTANCE 

a gold standard under cover of a declaration in 
favor of international bimetallism, I am justified 
in suggesting that honest money cannot be ex- 
pected at the hands of those who deal dishonestly 
with the American people. 

What is the test of honesty in money? It 
must certainly be found in the purchasing power 
of the dollar. An absolutely honest dollar would 
not vary in its general purchasing power; it would 
be absolutely stable when measured by average 
prices. A dollar which increases in purchasing 
power is just as dishonest as a dollar which de- 
creases in purchasing power. Professor Laughlin, 
now of the University of Chicago, and one of the 
highest gold standard authorities, in his work on 
bimetallism, not only admits that gold does not 
remain absolutely stable in value, but expressly 
asserts " that there is no such thing as a standard 
of value for future payments, either in gold or 
silver, which remains absolutely invariable." He 
even suggests that a multiple standard, wherein 
the unit is "based upon the selling prices of a 
number of articles of general consumption," would 
be a more just standard than either gold or silver, 
or both, because "a long time contract would 
thereby be paid at its maturity by the same pur- 
chasing power as was given in the beginning." 

It cannot be successfully claimed that monomet- 
allism or bimetallism, or any other system, gives 
an absolutely just standard of value. Under both 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANXE 377 

monometallism and bimetallism the government 
fixes the weight and fineness of the dollar, invests 
it with legal tender quantities, and then opens the 
mint to its unrestricted coinage, leaving the pur- 
chasing power of the dollar to be determined by 
the number of dollars. Bimetallism is better than 
monometallism, not because it gives us a perfect 
dollar — that is, a dollar absolutely unvarying in its 
general purchasing povvfer — but because it makes 
a nearer approach to stability, to honesty, to jus- 
tice, than a gold standard possibly can. Prior to 
^^73> when there were enough open mints to 
permit all the gold and silver available for coinage 
to find entrance into the world's volume of standard 
money, the United States might have maintained a 
gold standard with less injury to the people of 
this country; but now, when each step toward a 
universal gold standard enhances the purchasing 
power of gold, depresses prices, and transfers to 
the pockets of the creditor class an unearned incre- 
ment, the influence of this great nation must be 
thrown upon the side of gold unless we are pre- 
pared to accept the natural and legitimate conse- 
quences of such an act. Any legislation which 
lessens the world's stock of standard money in- 
creases the exchangeable value of the dollar; 
therefore, the crusade against silvermust inevitably 
raise the purchasing power of money, and lower 
the money value of all other forms of property. 
Our opponents sometimes admit that it was a 



378 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

mistake to demonetize silver, but insist that we 
should submit to present conditions rather than 
return to the bimetallic system. They err in 
supposing that we have reached the end of the 
evil results of a gold standard ; we have not 
reached the end. The injury is a continuing one, 
and no person can say how long the world is to 
suffer from the attempt to make gold the only stand- 
ard money. The same influences which are now 
operating to destroy silver in the United States 
will, if successful here, be turned against other 
silver-using countries, and each new convert to 
the gold standard will add to the general distress. 
So long as the scramble for gold continues, prices 
must fall, and a general fall in prices is but another 
definition of hard times. 

Our opponents, while claiming entire disinter- 
estedness for themselves, have appealed to the 
selfishness of nearly every class of society. Rec- 
ognizing the disposition of the individual voter to 
consider the effect of any proposed legislation 
upon himself, we present to the American people 
the financial policy outlined in the Chicago plat- 
form, believing that it will result in the greatest 
good to the greatest number. 

The farmers are opposed to the gold standard 
because they have felt its effects. Since they sell 
at wholesale and buy at retail, they have lost more 
than they have gained by falling prices, and, be- 
sides this, they have found that certain fixed 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 379 

charges have not fallen at all. Taxes have not 
been perceptibly decreased, although it requires 
more of farm products now than formerly to 
secure the money with which to pay taxes. 
Debts have not fallen. The farmer who owed 
$1000 is still compelled to pay $1000, although it 
may be twice as difficult as formerly to obtain the 
dollars with which to pay the debt. Railroad rates 
have not been reduced to keep pace with falling 
prices, and besides these items there are many 
more. The farmer has thus found it more and 
more difficult to live. Has he not a just com- 
plaint against the gold standard ? 

The wage-earners have been injured by a gold 
standard, and have expressed themselves upon 
the subject with great emphasis. In February, 
1895, ^ petition asking for the immediate restora- 
tion of the free and unlimited coinage of gold and 
silver at 16 to i was signed by the representatives 
of all, or nearly all, the leading labor organizations 
and presented to Congress. Wage-earners know 
that while a gold standard raises the purchasing 
power of the dollar it also makes it more difficult 
to obtain possession of the dollar ; they know that 
employment is less permanent, loss of work more 
probable, and re-employment less certain. A gold 
standard encourages the hoarding of money be- 
cause money is rising; it also discourages enter- 
prise and paralyzes industry. On the other hand, 
the restoration of bimetallism will discourage hoard- 



38o BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

ing, because, when prices are steady or rising, 
money cannot afford to He idle in the bank vaults. 
The farmers and wage-earners together constitute 
a considerable majority of the people of the coun- 
try. Why should their interests be ignored in 
considering financial legislation ? A monetary 
system which is peculiarly advantageous to a few 
syndicates has far less to commend it than a 
system that would give hope and encouragement 
to those who create the nation's wealth. 

Our opponents have made a special appeal to 
those who hold fire and life insurance policies, but 
these policy holders know that, since the total 
premiums received exceed the total losses paid, a 
rising standard must be of more benefit to the 
companies than to the policy holders. 

Much solicitude has been expressed by our 
opponents for the depositors in savings banks. 
They constantly parade before these depositors 
the advantages of a gold standard ; but these ap- 
peals will be in vain, because savings bank depos- 
itors know that under a gold standard there is 
increasing danger that they will lose their deposits 
because of the inability of the banks to collect 
their assets ; and they still further know that, if the 
gold standard is to continue indefinitely, they may 
be compelled to withdraw their deposits in order 
to pay living expenses. 

It is only necessary to note the increasing num- 
ber of failures, in order to know that a gold 




HENRY GEORGE. 




Admiral W. S. SCHLEY. 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 383 

standard is ruinous to merchants and manufac- 
turers. These business men do not make their 
profits from the people from whom they borrow 
money, but from the people to whom they sell 
their goods. If the people cannot buy, retailers 
cannot sell, and, if retailers cannot sell, wholesale 
merchants and manufacturers must go into bank- 
ruptcy. 

Those who hold, as a permanent investment, 
the stock of railroads and of other enterprises — I 
do not include those who speculate in stocks or 
use stock holdings as a means of obtaining an 
inside advantage in construction contracts — are 
injured by a gold standard. The rising dollar de- 
stroys the earning power of these enterprises 
without reducing their liabilities, and, as dividends 
cannot be paid until salaries and fixed charges 
have been satisfied, the stockholders must bear 
the burden of hard times. 

Salaries in business occupations depend upon 
business conditions, and the gold standard both 
lessens the amount and threatens the permanency 
of such salaries. 

Official salaries, except the salaries of those who 
hold office for life, must, in the long run, be ad- 
justed to the conditions of those who pay the 
taxes ; and if the present financial policy con- 
tinues, we must expect the contest between the 
taxpayer and the taxeater to increase in bitter- 
ness. 



384 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

The professional classes, in the main, derive 
their support from the producing classes, and can 
only enjoy prosperity when there is prosperity 
among those who create wealth. 

I have not attempted to describe the effect of 
the gold standard upon all classes — in fact, I have 
only had time to mention a few — but each person 
will be able to apply the principles stated to his 
own occupation. 

It must also be remembered that it is the desire 
of people generally to convert their earnings into 
real or personal property. This being true, in 
considering any temporary advantage which may 
come from a system under which the dollar rises 
in its purchasing power, it must not be forgotten 
that the dollar cannot buy more than formerly 
unless property sells for less than formerl)'. 
Hence, it will be seen that a large portion of those 
who may find some pecuniary advantage in a 
gold standard will discover their losses exceed 
their gains. 

It is sometimes asserted by our opponents that 
a bank belongs to the debtor class ; but this is not 
true of any solvent bank. Every statement pub- 
lished by a solvent bank shows that the assets ex- 
ceed the liabilities. That is to say, while the 
bank owes a large amount of money to its depos- 
itors, it not only has enough on hand in money 
and notes to pay its depositors ; but, in addition 
thereto, has enough to cover its capital and sur- 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 385 

plus. When the dollar is rising in value slowly, 
a bank may, by making short-time loans and 
taking good security, avoid loss ; but when prices 
are falling rapidly, the bank is apt to lose more 
because of bad debts than it can gain by the in- 
crease in the purchasing power of its capital and 
surplus. 

It must be admitted, however, that some bank- 
ers combine the business of a bond broker with 
the ordinary banking business, and these may 
make enough in the negotiation of loans to offset 
the losses arising in legitimate banking business. 
As long as human nature remains as it is, there 
will always be danger that, unless restrained by 
public opinion or legal enactment, those who see 
a pecuniary profit for themselves in a certain con- 
dition may yield to the temptation to bring about 
that condition. Jefferson has stated that one of 
the main duties of government is to prevent men 
from injuring one another, and never was that 
duty more important than it is to-day. It is not 
strange that those who have made a profit by fur- 
nishing gold to the government in the hour of its 
extremity favor a financial policy which will keep 
the government dependent upon them. I believe, 
however, that I speak the sentiment of the vast 
majority of people of the United States when I say 
that a wise financial policy administered in behalf 
of all the people would make our government in- 



386 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

dependent of any combination of financiers, foreign 
or domestic. 

Let me say a word, now, in regard to certain 
persons who are pecuniarily benefited by a gold 
standard, and who favor it, not from a desire to 
trespass on the rights of others, but because the 
circumstances which surround them blind them to 
the effect of the gold standard upon others. I 
shall ask you to consider the language of two 
gentlemen whose long public service and high 
standing in the party to which they belong will 
protect them from adverse cridcism by our oppo- 
nents. In 1869 Senator Sherman said: "The 
contraction of the currency is a far more distress- 
ing operation than senators suppose. Our own 
and other nations have gone through that opera- 
tion before. It is not possible to take that voyage 
without the sorest distress ; it is a period of loss, 
danger, lassitude of trade, fall of wages, suspen- 
sion of enterprise, bankruptcy and disaster. It 
means ruin to all dealers whose debts are twice their 
business capital, though one-third less than their 
actual property. It means the fall of all agricul- 
tural production without any reduction of taxes. 
What prudent man would dare to build a house, 
a railroad, a factory or a barn with this certain 
fact before him? " As I have said before, the sal- 
aried officer referred to must be the man whose 
salary is fixed for life, and not the man whose 
salary depends upon business condiuons. When 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 387 

Mr. Sherman describes contraction of the currency 
as disastrous to all the people except the capitalist 
out of debt and those who stand in a similar posi- 
tion to his, he is stating a truth which must be 
apparent to every person who will give the matter 
careful consideration. ]\Ir. Sherman was at that 
time speaking of the contraction of the volume of 
paper currency; but the principle w^hich he set 
forth applies if there is a contraction of the volume 
of the standard money of the world. 

Mr. Blaine discussed the same principle in con- 
nection with the demonetization of silver. Speak- 
ing in the House of Representatives on the 7th 
of February, 1878, he said : " I believe the struggle 
now going on in this country and other countries 
for a single gold standard would, if successful, 
produce widespread disaster in and throughout 
the commercial world. The destruction of silver 
as money, and the establishment of gold as the 
sole unit of value must have a ruinous effect on 
all forms of property, except those invested which 
yield a fixed return in money. These would be 
enormously enhanced in value, and would gain a 
disproportionate and unfair advantage over every 
other species of property." It is strange that the 
"holders of investments which yield a fixed return 
in money " can regard the destruction of silver 
with complacency? May we not expect the 
holders of other forms of property to protest 
against giving to money a " disproportionate and 



388 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

unfair advantage over every other species of prop- 
erty ? " If the relatively few whose wealth con- 
sists largely in fixed investments have a right to 
use the ballot to enhance the value of their invest- 
ments, have not the rest of the people the right to 
use the ballot to protect themselves from the dis- 
astrous consequences of a rising standard ? 

The people who must purchase money with the 
products of toil stand in a position entirely differ- 
ent from the position of those who own money or 
receive a fixed income. The well-being of the 
nation — aye, of civilization itself — depends upon 
the prosperity of the masses. What shall it 
profit us to have a dollar which grows more valu- 
able every day if such a dollar lowers the standard 
of civilization and brings distress to the people ? 
What shall it profit us if, in trying to raise our 
credit by increasing the purchasing power of 
our dollar, we destroy our ability to pay the debts 
already contracted by lowering the purchasing 
power of the products with which those debts 
must be paid? If it is asserted, as it constandy 
is asserted, that the gold standard will enable us 
to borrow more money from abroad, I reply that 
the restoration of bimetallism will restore the 
parity between money and property, and thus 
permit an era of prosperity which will enable the 
American people to become loaners of money in- 
stead of perpetual borrowers. Even if we desire 
to borrow, how long can we continue borrowing 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 389 

under a system which, by lowering the value of 
property, weakens the foundation upon which 
credit rests ? 

Even the holders of fixed investments, though 
they gain an advantage from the appreciation of 
the dollar, certainly see the injustice of the legisla- 
tion which gives them this advantage over those 
whose incomes depend upon the value of property 
and products. If the holders of fixed investments 
will not listen to arguments based upon justice 
and equity, I appeal to them to consider the inter- 
ests of posterity. We do not live for ourselves 
alone ; our labor, our self-denial, and our anxious 
care — all these are for those who are to come 
after us as much as for ourselves; but we cannot 
protect our children beyond the period of our 
lives. Let those who are now reaping advantage 
from a vicious financial system remember that, in 
the years to come, their own children and chil- 
dren's children may, through the operation of this 
same system, be made to pay tribute to the de- 
scendants of those who are wronged to-day. 

As against the maintenance of a gold standard, 
either permanently or until other nations can be 
united for its overthrow, the Chicago platform pre- 
sents a clear and emphatic demand for the imme- 
diate restoration of the free and unlimited coinage 
of silver and gold at the present legal ratio of 16 
to I, without waiting for the aid or consent of any 
other nation. We are not asking that a new ex- 



390 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

periment be tried ; we are insisting upon a return 
to a financial policy approved by the experience 
of history and supported by all the prominent 
statesmen of our nation from the days of our first 
President down to 1873. When we ask that our 
mints be opened to the free and unlimited coinage 
of silver into full legal tender money, we are simply 
asking that the same mint privileges be accorded 
to silver that are now accorded to gold. When 
we ask that this coinage be at the rate of 16 to i, 
we simply ask that our gold coins and the standard 
silver dollar — which, be it remembered, contains 
the same amount of pure silver as the first silver 
dollar coined at our mints — retain their present 
weight and fineness. 

The theoretical advantage of the bimetallic sys- 
tem is best stated by a European writer on political 
economy, who suggests the following illustration : 
A river fed from two sources is more uniform in 
volume than a river fed from one source — the 
reason being that when one of the feeders is 
swollen the other may be low ; whereas, a river 
which has but one feeder must rise or fall with 
that feeder. So in the case of bimetallism ; the 
volume of metallic money receives contributions 
from both the gold mines and the silver mines, 
and, therefore, varies less ; and the dollar, resting 
upon two metals, is less changeable in its pur- 
chasing power than the dollar which rests on one 
metal only. 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 391 

If there are two kinds of money, the option must 
rest either with the debtor or with the creditor. 
Assuming that their rights are equal, we must 
look at the interests of society in general in order 
to determine to which side the option should be 
given. Under the bimetallic system, gold and 
silver are linked together by law at a fixed ratio, 
and any person or persons owing any quantity of 
either metal can have the same converted into 
full legal-tender money. If the creditor has the 
right to choose the metal in which payment shall 
be made, it is reasonable to suppose that he will 
require the debtor to pay in the dearer metal if 
there is any perceptible difference between the 
bullion values of the metals. This new demand 
created for the dearer metal will make that metal 
dearer still, while the decreased demand for the 
cheaper metal will make that metal cheaper still. 
If, on the other hand, the debtor exercises the 
option, it is reasonable to suppose that he will pay 
in the cheaper metal if one metal is perceptibly 
cheaper than the other; but the demand thus cre- 
ated for the cheaper metal will raise its price, 
while the lessened demand for the dearer metal 
will lower its price. In other words, when the 
creditor has the option, the metals are drawn 
apart ; whereas, when the debtor has the option, 
the metals are held together approximately at the 
ratio fixed by law ; provided the demand created 



392 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

is sufficient to absorb all of both metals presented 
at the mint. 

Society is, therefore, interested in having the 
option exercised by the debtor. Indeed, there 
can be no such thing as real bimetallism unless 
the option is exercised by the debtor. The exer- 
cise of the option by the debtor compels the 
creditor classes, whether domestic or foreign, to 
exert themselves to maintain the parity between 
gold and silver at the legal ratio, whereas they 
might find a profit in driving one of the metals to 
a premium if they could then demand the dearer 
metal. The right of the debtor to choose the 
coin in which payment shall be made extends to 
oblifjations due from the grovernment as well as 
to contracts between individuals. A government 
obligation is simply a debt due from all the people 
to one of the people, and it is impossible to justify 
a policy which makes the interests of the one per- 
son who holds the obligation superior to the rights 
of the many who must be taxed to pay it. When, 
prior to 1873, silver was at a premium, it was 
never contended that national honor required the 
payment of government obligations in silver, and 
the Matthews resolution, adopted by Congress in 
1878, expressly asserted the right of the United 
States to redeem coin obligations in standard 
silver dollars as well as in gold coin. 

V^pon this subject the Chicago platform reads : 
*We are opposed to the policy and practice of 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 393 

surrendering to the holders of the obligations of 
the United States the option reserved by law to 
the government of redeeming such obligations in 
either silver coin or gold coin." 

It is constantly assumed by some that the 
United States notes, commonly called greenbacks, 
and the Treasury notes, issued under the act of 
1890, are responsible for the recent drain upon 
the gold reserve, but this assumption is entirely 
without foundation. Secretary Carlisle appeared 
before the House Committee on Appropriations, 
on January 21, 1895, ^"^ I quote from the printed 
report of his testimony before the Committee : 

" Mr. Sibley : I would like to ask you (perhaps 
not entirely connected with the matter under dis- 
cussion) what objection there could be to having 
the option of redeeming either in silver or gold 
He with the Treasury instead of the note holder ? 

" Secretary Carlisle : If that policy had been 
adopted at the beginning of resumption — and I 
am not saying this for the purpose of criticising 
the action of any of my predecessors, or anybody 
else^but if the policy of reserving to the govern- 
ment, at the beginning of resumption, the option 
of redeeming in gold or silver all its paper pre- 
sented, I believe it would have worked beneficially, 
and there would have been no trouble growing 
out of it, but the Secretaries of the Treasury from 
the beginning of resumption have pursued a pol- 
icy of redeeming in gold or silver, at the option 



394 BRYx\N'S ACCEPTANCE 

of the holder of the paper, and if any Secretary 
had afterwards attempted to change that poHcy 
and force silver upon a man who wanted gold, or 
gold upon a man who wanted silver, and espe- 
cially if he had made that attempt at such a critical 
period as we have had in the last two years, my 
judgment is it would have been very disastrous." 

I do not agree with the Secretary that it was 
wise to follow a bad precedent, but from his an- 
swer it will be seen that the fault does not lie with 
the greenbacks and Treasury notes, but rather 
with the executive officers who have seen fit to 
surrender a right which should have been exer- 
cised for the protection of the interests of the 
people. This executive action has already been 
made the excuse for the issue of more than $250,- 
000,000 in bonds, and it is impossible to estimate 
the amount of bonds which may hereafter be 
issued if this policy is continued. We are told 
that any attempt on the part of the government 
at this time to redeem its obligations in silver 
would put a premium upon gold, but why should 
it ? The Bank of France exercises the right to 
redeem all bank paper in either gold or silver, 
and yet France maintains the parity between gold 
and silver at the ratio of iS}4 to i, and retains 
in circulation more silver per capita than we do in 
the United States. 

It may be further answered that our opponents 
have suggested no feasible plan for avoiding the 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 395 

dangers which they fear. The retirement of the 
greenbacks and Treasury notes would not protect 
the Treasury, because the same policy which now 
leads the Secretary of the Treasury to redeem all 
Government paper in gold, when gold is de- 
manded, will require the redempdon of all silver 
dollars and silver certificates in gold, if the green- 
backs and Treasury notes are withdrawn from 
circulation. More than this, if the Government 
should retire Its paper and throw upon the banks 
the necessity of furnishing coin redemption, the 
banks would exercise the right to furnish either 
gold or silver. In other words, they would exer- 
cise the option, just as the Government ought to 
exercise it now. The Government must either 
exercise the right to redeem its obligations in sil- 
ver when silver is more convenient, or it must re- 
tire all the silver and silver certificates from cir- 
culation and leave nothing but gold as legal tender 
money. Are our opponents willing to outline a 
financial system which will carry out their policy 
to its legitimate conclusion, or will they continue 
to cloak their designs in ambiguous phrases ? 

There is an actual necessity for bimetallism as 
well as a theoretical defence of it. During the 
last twenty-three years legislation has been creat- 
ine an addidonal demand for g^old, and this law- 
created demand has resulted in increasing the 
purchasing power of each ounce of gold. The 
restoration of bimetallism in the United States 



396 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

will take away from gold just so much of its pur- 
chasing power as was added to it by the demone- 
tization of silver by the United States. The 
silver dollar is now held up to the gold dollar by 
legal tender laws and not by redemption in gold, 
because the standard silver dollars are not now 
redeemable in gold either in law or by administra- 
tive policy. 

We contend that free and unlimited coinage 
by the United States alone will raise the bullion 
value of silver to its coinage value, and this make 
silver bullion worth $1.29 per ounce in gold 
throughout the world. This proposition is in 
keeping with natural laws, not in defiance of them. 
The best-known law of commerce is the law of 
supply and demand. We recognize this law and 
build our argument upon it. We apply this law 
to money when we say that a reduction in the 
volume of money will raise the purchasing power 
of the dollar ; we also apply the law of supply 
and demand to silver when we say that a new de- 
mand for silver created by law will raise the price 
of silver bullion. Gold and silver are different 
from other commodities, in that they are limited 
in quantity. Corn, wheat, manufactured products, 
etc., can be produced almost without limit, pro- 
vided they can be sold at a price sufficient to 
stimulate production, but gold and silver are 
called precious metals, because they are found, 
not produced. These metals have been the ob- 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 397 

jects of anxious search as far back as history 
runs, yet, accordingr to Mr. Harvey's calculation, 
all the gold coin of the world can be melted into a 
22-foot cube, and all the silver in the world into a 
66-foot cube. Because gold and silver are limited, 
both in the quantity now in hand and in annual 
production, it follows that legislation can fix the 
ratio between them. 

Any purchaser who stands ready to take the 
entire supply of any given article at a certain 
price can prevent that article from falling below 
that price. So the government can fix a price for 
gold and silver by creating a demand greater than 
the supply. International bimetallists believe that 
several nations, by entering into an agreement to 
coin at a fixed ratio all the gold and silver pre- 
sented, can maintain the bullion value of the 
metals at the mint ratio. When a mint price is 
thus established, it regulates the bullion price, be- 
cause any person desiring coin may have the bul- 
lion converted into coin at that price, and any 
person desiring bullion can secure it by melting 
the coin. The only question upon which inter- 
national bimetallists differ is: Can the United 
States by the free and unlimited coinage of silver 
at the present legal ratio create a demand for 
silver which, taken in connection with the demand 
already in existence, will be sufficient to utilize all 
the silver that will be presented at the mints? 
They agree in their defence of the bimetallic prin- 



3q8 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

ciple, and they agree in unalterable opposition to 
the orold standard. International bimetallists can- 
not complain that free coinage gives a benefit to 
the mine owner, because international bimetallism 
gives to the owner of silver all the advantages 
offered by independent bimetallism at the same 
ratio. International bimetallists cannot accuse 
the advocates of free silver of being " bullion 
owners who desire to raise the value of their bul- 
lion ; " or " debtors who desire to pay their debts 
in cheap dollars ; " or " demagogues who desire to 
curry favor with the people." They must rest 
their opposition upon one ground only, namely: 
That the supply of silver available for coinage is 
too large to be utilized by the United States. 

In discussing the question we must consider the 
capacity of our people to use silver and the 
quantity of silver which can come to our mints. 
It must be remembered that we live in a country 
only partially developed, and that our people far 
surpass any equal number of people in the world 
in their power to consume and produce. Our 
extensive railroad development and enormous 
internal commerce must also be taken into con- 
sideration. Now, how much silver can come 
here ? Not the coined silver of the world, be- 
cause almost all of it is more valuable at this 
time in other lands than it will be at our mints 
under free coinage. If our mints are opened to 
free and unlimited coinage at the present ratio. 




ADMIRAL, DEWEY, HERO OF MANILA BAV 




Dr. J. C. RIDPATH. 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 401 

merchandise silver cannot come here, because the 
labor applied to it has made it worth more in the 
form of merchandise than it will be worth at our 
mints. We cannot even expect all of the annual 
product of silver, because India, China, Japan, 
Mexico and all the other silver-using countries 
must satisfy their annual needs from the annual 
product; the arts will require a large amount, and 
the gold standard countries will need a consider- 
able quantity of subsidiary coinage. We will be 
required to coin only that which is not needed 
elsewhere ; but, if we stand ready to take and 
utilize all of it, otlier nations will be compelled to 
buy at the price which we fix. Many fear that 
the opening of our mints will be followed by an 
enormous increase in the annual production of 
silver. This is conjecture. Silver has been used 
as money for thousands of years, and during all 
that time the world has never suffered from over- 
production. If, for any reason, the supply of gold 
or silver in the future ever exceeds the require- 
ments of the arts and the needs of commerce, we 
confidently hope that the intelligence of the people 
will be sufficient to devise and enact any legisla-^ 
tion necessary for the protection of the public; 
It is folly to refuse the people the money which | 
they now need for fear they may hereafter have 
more than they need. I am firmly convinced that 
by opening our mints to free and unlimited coin- 
age at the present ratio we can create a demand 



402 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

for silver which will keep the price of silver 
bullion at $1.29 per ounce, measured by gold. 

Some of our opponents attribute the fall in the 
value of silver, when measured by gold, to the 
fact that during the last quarter of a century the 
world's supply of silver has increased more 
rapidly than the world's supply of gold. This 
argument is entirely answered by the fact, that 
during the last five years, the annual production 
of gold has increased more rapidly than the 
annual production of silver. Since the gold price 
of silver has fallen more during the last five years 
than it ever fell in any previous five years in the 
history of the world, it is evident that the fall is 
not due to increased production. Prices can be 
lowered as effectually by decreasing the demand 
for an article as by increasing the supply of it, 
and it seems certain that the fall in the gold price 
of silver is due to hostile legislation and not to 
natural laws. 

Our opponents cannot ignore the fact that gold 
is now going abroad in spite of all legislation 
intended to prevent it, and no silver is being 
coined to take its place. Not only is gold going 
abroad now, but it must continue to gro abroad as 
long as the present financial policy is adhered to, 
unless we continue to borrow from across the 
ocean, and even then we simply postpone the 
evil, because the amount borrowed, together with 
interest upon it, must be repaid in appreciating 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 403 

dollars. The American people now owe a laro-e 
sum to European creditors, and falling prices 
have left a larger and larger margin between our 
net national income and our annual interest 
charge. There is only one way to stop the in- 
creasing flow of gold from our shores, and that is to 
stop falling prices. The restoration of bimetallism 
■will not only stop falling prices, but will — to some 
extent, restore prices by reducing the world's de- 
mand for gold. If it is argued that a rise in prices 
lessens the value of the dollars which we pay to our 
creditors, I reply that, in the balancing of equides 
the American people have as much right to favor 
a financial system which will maintain or restore 
prices as foreign creditors have to insist upon a 
financial system that will reduce prices. But the 
interests of society are far superior to the inter- 
ests of either debtors or creditors, and the interests 
of society demand a financial system which will 
add to the volume of the standard money of the 
world, and thus restore stability to prices. 

Perhaps the most persistent misrepresentation 
that we have to meet is the charge that we are 
advocadng the payment of debts in fifty-cent 
dollars. At the present time and under present 
laws, a silver dollar, when melted, loses nearly 
half its value, but that will not be true when we 
again establish a mint price for silver and leave 
no surplus upon the market to drag down the 
price of bullion. Under bimetallism, silver bullion 



404 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

will be worth as much as silver coin, just as gold 
bullion is now worth as much as gold coin, and 
we believe that a silver dollar will be worth as 
much as a gold dollar. 

The charge of repudiation comes with poor 
erace from those who are seeking to add to the 
weight of existing debts by legislation which 
makes money dearer, and who conceal their de- 
sions against the oreneral welfare under the 
euphonious pretence that they are upholding 
public credit and national honor. 

In answer to the charge that gold will go abroad, 
it must be remembered that no gold can leave 
diis country until the owner of the gold receives 
something in return for it, which he would rather 
have. In other words, when gold leaves the 
country, those who formerly owned it will be bene- 
fitted. There is no process by which we can be 
compelled to part with our gold against our will, 
nor is there any process by which silver can be 
forced upon us without our consent. Exchanges 
are matters of agreement, and if silver comes to 
this country under free coinage it will be at the 
invitation of some one in this country who will 
give something in exchange for it. 

Those who deny the ability of the United 

'States to maintain the parity between gold and 

silver at the present legal ratio without foreign 

aid point to Mexico and assert that the opening 

of our mints will reduce us to a silver basis and 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 405 

raise gold to a premium. It is no reflection upon 
our sister Republic to remind our people that the 
United States is much greater than Mexico in 
area, in population and in commercial strength. 
It is absurd to assert that the United States is not 
able to do anything which Mexico has failed to 
accomplish. The one thing necessary in order to 
maintain the parity is to furnish a demand great 
enough to utilize all the silver which will come to 
the mints. That Mexico has failed to do this is 
not proof that the United States would also fail. 

It is also argued that, since a number of nations 
have demonetized silver, nothing can be done 
until all of those nations restore bimetallism. 
This is also illogical. It is immaterial how many 
or how few nations have open mints, provided 
there are sufficient open mints to furnish a mone- 
tary demand for all the gold and silver available 
for coinage. 

In reply to the argument that improved ma- 
chinery has lessened the cost of producing silver, 
it is sufficient to say that the same is true of the 
production of gold, and yet, notwithstanding that, 
gold has risen in value. As a matter of fact, the 
cost of production does not determine the value 
of the precious metals, except as it may affect the 
supply. If, for instance, the cost of producing 
gold should be reduced to 90 per cent, without 
any increase in the output, the purchasing power 
of an ounce of orold would not fall. So long as 



4o6 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

there is a monetary demand sufficient to take at a 
fixed mint price all of the gold and silver pro- 
duced, the cost of production need not be con- 
sidered. 

It is often objected that the prices of gold and 
silver cannot be fixed in relation to each other, 
because of the variation in the relative production 
of the metals. This argument also overlooks the 
fact that, if the demand for both metals at a fixed 
price is greater than the supply of both, relative 
production becomes immaterial. In the early 
part of the present century the annual production 
of silver was worth at the coinage ratio, about 
three times as much as the annual production of 
gold; whereas, soon after 1849, ^^^^ annual pro- 
duction of gold became worth about three times 
as much, at the coinage ratio, as the annual pro- 
duction of silver ; and, yet, owing to the mainten- 
ance of the bimetallic standard, these enormous 
changes in relative production had but a slight 
effect upon the relative values of the metals. 

If it is asserted by our opponents that the free 
coinage of silver is intended only for the benefit 
of the mine owners, it must be remembered that 
free coinage cannot restore to the mine owners 
any more than demonetization took away ; and it 
must also be remembered that the loss which tlie 
demonetization of silver has brought to the mine 
owners is insignificant compared to the loss which 
this policy has brought to the rest of the people. 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 407 

The restoration of silver will bring to the people 
);enerally many times as much advantage as the 
mine owners can obtain from it. While it is not 
the purpose of free coinage to specially aid any 
particular class, yet those who believe that the 
restoration of silver is needed by the whole 
people should not be dettered because an inci- 
dental benefit will come to the mine owners. The 
erection of forts, the deepening of harbors, the 
improvement of rivers, the erection of public 
buildings — all these confer incidental benefits 
upon individuals and communities, and yet these 
incidental benefits do not deter us from making 
appropriations for these purposes whenever such 
appropriations are necessary for the public good. 
The arorument that a silver dollar is heavier 

o 

than a gold, and that, therefore, silver is less con- 
venient to carry in large quantities, is completely 
answered by the silver certificate, which is as 
easily carried as the gold certificate or any other 
kind of paper money. 

There are some, who, while admitting the bene- 
fits of bimetallism, object to coinage at the pre- 
sent ratio. If any are deceived by this objection, 
they ought to remember that there are no bi- 
metallists who are earnesdy endeavoring to secure 
it at any other ratio than 16 to i. We are op- 
posed to any change in the ratio for two reasons — 
first, because a change would produce great m- 
)»;stice; and, second, because a change in the 



4o8 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

ratio is not necessary, A change would produce 
injustice, because, if effected in the manner 
usually suggested, it would result in an enormous 
contraction in the volume of standard money. 

If, for instance, it was decided by international 
agreement to raise the ratio throughout the 
world to 32 to I, the change might be effected in 
any one of three ways : 

The silver dollar could be doubled in size, so 
that the new silver dollar would weigh thirty-two 
times as much as the present gold dollar; or the 
present gold dollar could be reduced one-half in 
weight, so that the present silver dollar would 
weigh thirty-two times as much as the new gold 
dollar ; or the change could be made by increas- 
inqr the size of the silver dollar and decreasing 
the size of the gold dollar until the new silver 
dollar would weigh thirty-two times as much as 
the new gold dollar. 

Those who have advised a change in the ratio 
have usually suggested that silver dollars be 
doubled. If this change were made it would 
necessitate the recoinage of four billions of silver 
into two billions of dollars. There would be an 
immediate loss of two billions of dollars either to 
individuals or to the government, but this would 
be the least of the injury. A shrinkage of one- 
half in the silver money of the world would mean 
7. shrinkage of one-fourth in the total volume of 
metallic money. This contraction, by increasing 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 409 

the value of the dollar, would virtually increase 
the debts of the world billions of dollars, and 
decrease still more the value of the property of 
the world, as measured by dollars. Besides this 
immediate result, such a change in the ratio would 
permanendy decrease the annual addition to the 
world's supply of money, because the annual 
silver product, when coined into dollars twice as 
large, would make only half as many dollars. 

The people of the United States would be 
injured by a change in the ratio, not because they 
produce silver, but because they own property 
and owe debts, and they cannot afford to thus 
decrease the value of their property or increase 
the burden of their debts. 

In 1878 Mr. Carlisle said: "Mankind will be 
fortunate, indeed, if the annual production of 
gold and silver coin will keep pace with the annual 
increase of population and industry." I repeat 
this assertion. All of the gold and silver annually 
available for coinage, when converted into coin at 
the present ratio, will not, in my judgment, more 
than supply our monetary needs. 

In supporting the act of 1890, known as the 
Sherman Act, Senator Sherman on June 5th of 
that year, said : 

" Under the law of February, 1878, the purchase 
of ^2,000,000 worth of silver bullion a month 
has by coinage produced annually an average of 
nearly ^^3,000,000 per month for a period of twelve 



4IO BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

years, but this amount, in view of the retirement 
of the bank notes, will not increase our currency 
in proportion to our increasing population. If our 
present currency is estimated at ^1,400,000,000 
and our population is increasing at the ratio of 3 per 
cent, per annum, it would require ^^42,000,000 in- 
creased circulation, each year, to keep pace with 
the increase of population ; but, as the increase 
of population is accompanied by a still greater 
ratio of increase of wealth and business, it was 
thought that an immediate increase of circulation 
might be obtained by larger purchases of silver 
bullion to an amount sufficient to make good the 
retirement of bank notes and keep pace with the 
growth of population. Assuming that ^54,000,000 
a year additional currency is needed upon this 
basis, that amount is provided for in this bill by 
the issue of Treasury notes in exchange for 
bullion at the market price." 

If the United States then needed more than 
$42,000,000 annually to keep pace with popula- 
tion and business, it now, with a larger population, 
needs a still greater annual addition; and the 
United States is only one nation among many. 
Our opponents make no adequate provision for 
the increasing monetary needs of the world. 

In the second place, a change in the ratio is not 
necessary. Hostile legislation has decreased the 
demand for silver and lowered its price when 
measured by gold, while this same hostile legisla- 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 411 

tion, by increasing the demand for grold, has raised 
the value of gold when measured by other forms 
of property. 

We are told that the restoration of bimetallism 
would be a hardship upon those who have entered 
into contracts payable in gold coin, but this is a 
mistake. It will be easier to obtain the gold with 
which to meet a gold contract, when most of the 
people use silver, than it is now, when every one 
is trying to secure gold. 

The Chicago platform expressly declares in 
favor of such legislation as may be necessary to 
prevent, for the future, the demonetization of any 
kind of legal tender money by private contract. 
Such contracts are objected to on the ground that 
they are against public policy. No one questions 
the riofht of legislatures to fix the rate of interest 
which can be collected by law ; there is far more 
reason for preventing private individuals from 
setting aside legal tender law. The money which 
is by law made a legal tender must, in the course 
of ordinary business, be accepted by ninety-nine 
out of every hundred persons. Why should tlie 
hundredth man be permitted to exempt himself 
from the general rule? Special contracts have a 
tendency to increase the demand for a particular 
kind of money, and thus force it to a premium. 
Have not the people a right to say that a com- 
paratively few individuals shall not be permitted 
to derange the financial system of the nation in 



412 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

order to collect a premium in case they succeed 
in forcing one kind of money to a premium ? 

There is another argument to which I ask at- 
tention. Some of the more zealous opponents of 
free coinage point to the fact that thirteen months 
must elapse between the election and the first 
regular session of Congress, and assert that dur- 
ing that time, in case people declare themselves 
in favor of free coinage, all loans will be with- 
drawn and all mortoraores foreclosed. If these are 
merely prophecies indulged in by those who have 
forgotten the provisions of the Constitution, it will 
be sufficient to remind them that the President is 
empowered to convene Congress in extraordinary 
session whenever the public good requires such 
action. If, in November, the people by their bal- 
lots declare themselves in favor of the immediate 
restoration of bimetallism, the system can be in- 
augurated within a few months. 

If, however, the assertion that loans will be with- 
drawn and mortgages foreclosed is made to prevent 
such political action as the people may believe 
to be necessary for the preservation of their rights, 
then a new and vital issue is raised. Whenever 
it is necessary for the people as a whole to ob- 
tain consent from the owners of money and the 
changers of money before they can legislate upon 
financial questions, we shall have passed from a 
democracy to a plutocracy. But that time has 
not yet arrived. Threats and intimidation will be 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 413 

ot no avail. The people who, in 1876, rejected 
the doctrine that kings rule by right divine, will 
not, in this generation, subscribe to a doctrine 
that money is omnipotent. 

In conclusion permit me to say a word in re- 
gard to international bimetallism. We are not 
opposed to an international agreement looking to 
the restoration of bimetallism throughout the 
world. The advocates of free coinage have on 
all occasions shown their willingness to co-operate 
with other nations in the reinstatement of silver, 
but they are not willing to await the pleasure of 
other governments when immediate relief is 
needed by the people of the United States, and 
they further believe that independent action offers 
better assurance of international bimetallism than 
servile dependence upon foreign aid. For more 
than twenty years we have invited the assistance 
of European nations, but all progress in the di- 
rection of international bimetallism has been 
blocked by the opposition of those who derive a 
pecuniary benefit from the appreciation of gold. 
How lonof must we wait for bimetallism to be 
brought to us by those who profit by monometal- 
lism. If the double standard will bring benefits 
to our people, who will deny them the right to 
enjoy those benefits. If our opponents would 
admit the right, the ability and the duty of our 
people to act for themselves on all public ques- 
tions without the assistance and regardless of the 



414 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

wishes of other nations, and then propose the re- 
medial legislation which they consider sufficient 
we could meet them in the field of honorable de- 
bate ; but, when they assert that this nation is 
helpless to protect the rights of its own citizens, 
we challenge them to submit the issue to a people 
whose patriotism has never been appealed to in 
vain. 

We shall not offend other nations when we de- 
clare the right of the American people to govern 
themselves, and, without let or hindrance from 
without, decide upon every question presented for 
their consideration. In taking this position, we 
simply maintain the dignity of seventy million 
citizens who are second to none in their capacity 
for self-o^overnment. 

The gold standard has compelled the Ameri- 
can people to pay an ever-increasing tribute to 
the creditor nations of the world — a tribute which 
no one dares to defend. I assert that national 
honor requires the United States to secure justice 
for all its citizens as well as do justice to all its 
creditors. For a people like ours, blest with 
natural resources of surpassing richness, to pro- 
claim themselves impotent to frame a financial 
system suited to their own needs, is humiliating 
beyond the power of language to describe. We 
cannot enforce respect for our foreign policy so 
long as we confess ourselves unable to frame our 
own financial policy. 



BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 415 

Honest differences of opinion have always ex- 
isted, and ever will exist, as to the legislation best 
calculated to promote the public weal ; but, when 
it is seriously asserted that this nation must bow 
to the dictation of other nations and accept the 
policies which they insist upon, the right of self- 
government is assailed, and until that question is 
setded all other questions are insignificant. 

Citizens of New York : I have travelled from 
the centre of the continent to the seaboard that I 
might, in the very beginning of the campaign, 
bring you greeting from the people of the West 
and South and assure you that their desire is not 
to destroy but to build up. They invite you to 
accept the principles of a living faith rather than 
listen to those who preach the gospel of despair 
and advise endurance of the ills you have. The 
advocates of free coinage believe that, in striving 
to secure the immediate restoration of bimetallism, 
they are laboring in your behalf as well as in 
their own behalf A few of your people may 
prosper under present conditions, but the perma- 
nent welfare of New York rests upon the pro- 
ducers of wealth. This great city is built upon 
the commerce of the nation and must suffer if 
that commerce is impaired. You cannot sell un- 
less the people have money with which to buy, 
and they cannot obtain the money with which to 
buy unless they are able to sell their products at 
remunerative prices. Production of wealth goes 



4i6 BRYAN'S ACCEPTANCE 

before the exchange of wealth ; those who create 
must secure a profit before they have anything to 
share with others. You cannot afford to join the 
moneychangers in supporting a financial policy 
which, by destroying the purchasing power of the 
products of toil, must in the end discourage the 
creation of wealth. 

I I ask, I expect, your co-operation. It is true 
that a few of your financiers would fashion a new 
figure — a figure representing Columbia, her hands 
bound fast with fetters of gold and her face turned 
toward the East, appealing for assistance to those 
who live beyond the sea — but this figure can never 
express your idea of this nation. You will rather 
return for inspiration to the heroic statue which 
guards the entrance to your city — a statue as 
patriotic in conception as it is colossal in propor- 
tions. It was the gracious gift of a sister Repub- 
lic and stands upon a pedestal which was built by 
the American people. That figure, Liberty en- 
lightening the world, is emblematic of the mission 
of our nation among the nations of the earth. 
With a government which derives its powers 
from the consent of the governed, secures to all 
the people freedom of conscience, freedom of 
thought and freedom of speech, guarantees equal 
rights to all and promises special privileges to 
none, the United States should be an example in 
all that is good and the leading spirit in every 
movement which has for its object the uplifting 
of the human race. 




EX-COUNSUL GENERAL FITZHUGH LEE, NOW MAJOR-GENERAL COMMANDLNG. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
PERILS OF THE GOLD STANDARD. 

Mr. James Dobson is known to the merchants 
throughout the United States. He is of the 
great manufacturing firm of John & James Dob- 
son, of Philadelphia. In an interview in the New 
York Mail and Express Mr. Dobson shows very 
clearly the evil effects of the single gold standard. 

Mr. Dobson said: "In 1890 there were im- 
ported into the United States from Japan 300,000 
rolls of so-called China mattings at an average 
cost of twelve and three-eighths cents per yard. 
In 1895 the importation of China mattings had 
increased to 800,000 rolls, at five and one-fifth 
cents per yard. That is equivalent to 32,000,000 
yards at five and one-fifth cents, instead of at 
twelve and three-eighths cents five years ago, all 
on account of the difference in exchange caused 
by the separation in value of the gold and silver 
dollar. I repeat that the price at which these 
mattings are imported in such enormous quanti- 
ties, supplanting our own ingrain carpets, is 
wholly due to the rate of exchange caused by the 
fact that Japan is upon a silver standard while we 
are upon a gold standard. Japanese silks are af- 
fecting the domestic silk trade precisely as mat- 

419 



420 GOLD STANDARD PERILS 

tings are ruining the carpet trade. Let me quote 
figures to prove that also. In 1890 the United 
States imported only 12,000 pieces of Japanese 
silk. In 1895 "^^ imported 404,164 pieces, or 
over thirty times more. This has demoralized 
the silk industry of this country, and so long as 
the rate of exchange remains as it is no duty 
I could be imposed high enough to check these im- 
portations. So with silk handkerchiefs. In 1890 
we imported 354,000 dozen. In 1895 ^^^ impor- 
tation increased to 1,100,000 dozen. That shows 
graphically, I think, the abnormal and alarming 
increase of importations. So with many other 
lesser articles. Why, the Japanese are supplying 
the world to-day with tooth brushes. 

"But another great industry is threatened. 
The Japs have gone largely into cotton manufac- 
turing. No nation in the world has made such 
rapid progress in this industry as has Japan. 
Their 300,000 spindles in 1894 jumped at a 
bound to 750,000 in 1895, ^^^ they have orders 
placed in England to-day for 750,000 more. That 
is an increase of spindles at the astonishing rate 
of 100 per cent, a year. So I have shown you 
that in the three great items of mattings, silks 
and cotton cloth the difference in exchange be- 
tween the Japanese silver standard and our pres- 
ent single gold standard is ruining three great 
branches of American manufacturing. The South 
must, in time, feel this, as well as Pennsylvania, 



GOLD STANDARD PERILS 421 

New York and New England, for the South is 
destined, under normal conditions, to be the home 
of the cotton factory." 

Mr. Dobson, who favors a protective tariff, was 
asked : " Cannot these increased importations be 
charged in part to the lower duties of the Wilson- 
Gorman tariff law ?" 

Mr. Dobson replied as follows: "Take silks 
alone. The rate of duty on silks is only 5 per cent, 
lower under the present tariff than it was under 
the McKinley law. That is not difference enough 
to multiply the silk importations of 1890 by thirty 
in 1895. Matting under the McKinley act paid 
20 per cent. duty. Now it is admitted free. Add 
20 per cent, on the first cost in Japan — four cents 
per yard— and it makes the cost -fip^ cents per 
yard more, making the cost, if imported under 
the McKinley law, six cents per yard, and under 
the present law five and one-half cents per yard, 
the difference being in the rate of exchange from 
a silver to a gold standard. In other words, when 
gold and silver were of nearly equal value, the 
cost of matting was twelve and three-eighths 
cents, as against five and one-fifth cents to-day." 

" Why does not this oriental competition affect 
other manufactures, such as iron and steel ?" 

"It will in time. When a nation like Japan 
first enters the markets of the world, it naturally 
offers for sale the cheapest and plainest fabrics, 
requiring the least skill to make. As soon as 



422 GOLD STANDARD PERILS 

this field is covered, as it already is in part, the 
new competing nation will turn its attention to 
costlier fabrics, requiring more labor and skill. 
Most woolen goods, as well as most iron and steel 
products, are thus far made in countries which 
are like ourselves, on a gold basis; so that in 
these branches of industry we are not yet con- 
fronted with a bounty of loo per cent, in favor of 
the manufacturer in a silver country. Gradually, 
eastern competition may drive the single gold 
standard countries into killing competition with 
one another, and the United States will become 
the dumping ground of all foreign products, un- 
less we protect ourselves." 

Mr. Dobson was asked to give some illustra- 
tions of how these importations had affected 
American labor. 

" That is the saddest part of the tale," was the 
reply. Mr. Dobson led the way to a window, 
which he threw open. "Look down there," said 
he, pointing down the hill. " You see a few lights 
gleaming yonder in the valley. Two years ago 
all the surrounding blackness would have been 
twinkling with the lighted windows of happy and 
prosperous homes." The manufacturer sighed 
as he gazed down upon the dark Schuylkill val- 
ley, and returned to his library. He resumed : 
" Here are more figures, but they have human 
interest and carry a pathetic meaning. The pres- 
ent importation of China mattings would keep 



GOLD STANDARD PERILS 423 

busy 2,500 ingrain carpet looms. Tliat means 
work, directly, for 7,500 weavers, dyers and spin- 
ners. That means labor and wages for one-half 
the ingrain carpet workers of Philadelphia. That 
means that about 30,000 people are indirectly 
caused to suffer by the stoppage of those 2,500 
looms. Not one-half of the ingrain looms in the 
country are running to-day. That means that 
thousands of trained employes are out of work. 
And this does not apply to the weaving of ingrain 
carpets alone. What affects ingrains must affect 
other branches of the trade. The making of 
tapestries and Brussels suffers as well." 

Mr. Dobson was so absorbed in this branch of 
his subject that he closed his eyes, and talking as 
if to himself, plunged into a litde mental arithmetic. 

" Let me see, 404,000 pieces of silk would be 
16,000.000 yards a year. One loom weaves six- 
teen yards a day. That would mean about 3,300 
looms a year to make the silk we imported in 1895 
from Japan alone, not to speak of China. That, 
I believe, is just about the number of silk looms 
now idle at Paterson. That throws directly out 
of work 10,000 people— dyers, throsters and spin- 
ners. Indirectly, that brings hardship to 50,000 
people. Those disasters have not yet struck our 
cotton mills. But they are coming, and coming 
soon, and they will strike New England and check 
the growth of the New South." 

" Mr. Dobson, will you say to what extent these 



424 GOLD STANDARD PERILS 

oriental importations have stopped the payment 
of wages within your personal knowledge ? " 

"I do not like that part of my story," he re- 
plied, "but I'll tell you approximately. In 1893 
our pay-roll reached ^136,000 a month. Our 
mills were then running full and gave steady 
work to 5,000 people. To-day our pay-roll is 
$60,000 a month. By reductions of time and like 
devices we managed to distribute these wages 
among about 4,000 people. We take care of as 
many as we can, but there is so much less for 
them to do and so much less for them to earn, 
and so much less for them to spend, and so much 
less for I don't know how many thousand other 
people to receive and to respend in their turn. I 
think those figures are sadly eloquent, and they 
apply only to our own local community, right 
here at the falls of the Schuylkill. But think of 
the other communities. Go to Kensington — 
Kensington, you know, is a northern suburb of 
Philadelphia, on the Delaware River. There are 
Dolan & Co.'s woolen mills. I am sure that not 
one-half of their people who were working on full 
time at good wages in 1893 can get any work at 
all now. That statement will apply to every 
branch of the woolen business, excepting only the 
mills that make women's fancy dress goods. Most 
of those mills, I believe, are still running full. 
And then think of the Paterson silk mills ! " 

Mr. Dobson explained that he preferred to 



GOLD STANDARD PERILS 425 

confine his statement to the shrinkage of pay-rolls 
in dollars to his own experience, but suggested 
that the figures he had already given carried their 
own inference. Then he went on : 

"All this means distress to both employes and 
manufacturers. The employes are earning either 
little or nothing at all, and yet they must live, 
and their necessity is dire. The manufacturer 
suffers because his expenses are constant for in- 
surance, maintenance of plant and other items. 
These expenses in the aggregate are an enormous 
tax upon the capital invested in these crippled in- 
dustries. For example, in the neighborhood of 
Providence, R. L, there are seventy-five woolen 
mills. Of them fifty-four are standing still and 
the rest are running only four days a week. It is 
hard to put into words what distress that means 
to both capital and labor. 

" Why, in all my experience of many years I 
have never seen business in such a condition as 
it is to-day. People won't buy goods, because 
they think that at another time they can buy them 
cheaper. There is no stability in prices. For 
example, only last week 10,000 cases of ginghams 
were sold in New York at from three and one- 
half to three and three-quarter cents a yard. Only 
a few weeks ago the price of these goods would 
have been to jobbers six to seven cents a yard. 
To-day cotton cloth for converting purposes and 
for export sells in the South at thirteen cents per 



426 GOLD STANDARD PERILS 

pound. That is simply unprecedented in the an- 
nals of manufacturing." 

It was suggested that it would be difficult to 
trace the effect of these disasters upon other 
classes of capital and labor in our social and in- 
dustrial system. 

"Yes, to their furthest extent," said Mr. Dob- 
son, "but it is comparatively easy to see how 
they affect the great business of transportation. I 
believe that the railroads employ one per cent, of 
all the employes of the country. Now, when the 
factories of the country are not busy, they furnish 
less freight to the railroads, whose earnings fall 
off until they go into the hands of receivers. That 
is the condition of sixty-two per cent, of the rail- 
roads of the country to-day. Unless we manu- 
facturers can give business to the railroads I don't 
see how they can pay their interest charges and 
prosper. This, of course, finally reaches the 
pockets of the stockholders, big and little, at 
home and abroad, and carries distress to those 
who had hoped to live on their invested earnings. 
We owe an enormous foreign indebtedness to 
our railroads. Many of our railroads have bor- 
rowed all they can, until almost all their rolling 
stock is pledged to car trusts, and they have noth- 
ing left to borrow on. Not a railroad security 
falls due but that is paid off by issuing a new se- 
curity. In other words, they are not paying their 
debts, but are keeping their borrowing capacity up 
to its extreme limit," 



CHAPTER XX. 
A VOICE FROM BOSTON. 

The following is an editorial taken from the 
Boot and Shoe Record, a representative business 
publication at Boston : — 

" It is not easy to decide whether the financial 
authorities (?) who control the daily press in this 
part of the country are stupidly ignorant or 
lamentably disingenuous in their statements about 
our alleged dependence on foreign capital or 
about the threatened withdrawals of foreign capi- 
tal by reason of the silver scare. Now foreign 
capital either refuses to go to silver-using coun- 
tries or it does not. It is a question of fact and 
not of opinion. If doing business on anything 
but the gold standard scares off investors, then 
we will certainly find the proof in a silver-using 
country like Mexico, where gold is counted at 
nearly loo per cent, premium. In the financial 
columns of the Boston Herald, which editorially 
tells of the terrible things that will happen If we 
favor silver in the slightest degree, we find the 
following : — 

"A city of Mexico special says: "The Bank 
of London and Mexico will increase its capital 
to ^10,000,000, in order to provide funds for its 

427 



428 VOICE FROM BOSTON 

growing business. It had just paid 14 per cent. 
dividend. 

" The National Bank of Mexico has purchased 
Hotel De La Gran Sociedad, and is expected to 
build a magnificent edifice on its site. 

"The Deutsche Bank of Berlin has decided to 
open a branch here, with ample capital, on the 
first day of June. There is a great interest 
aroused in financial circles by this attempt of the 
greatest bank of Central Europe to secure busi- 
ness in this country, and the fact that it will open 
a branch is taken to indicate confidence in the 
financial solvency and continued prosperity of this 
country. The new bank will be managed by 
Baron Bleichroeder' s former agent here. Dr. 
doner, and Pablo Kosldowski, German consul. 

"A new private bank will also be opened here 
July 1st. It is reported that when the new bank- 
ing law goes into effect, permitting the establish- 
ment of banks of issue in the interior, several 
institutions of credit will be opened. 

" The Government has a heavy balance in cash, 
and is meeting all Its obligations with punctuality. 
The national revenue is exceeding all expecta- 
tions. 

** There Is a remarkable amount of residential 
buildings here, and every indication of solid and 
permanent prosperity. Bankers report everybody 
well supplied with funds, and business generally 
very satisfactory." 



VOICE FROM BOSTON 429 

Does this look like a scare or not ? Are any 
banks in this country paying 14 per cent, divi- 
dends ? Can banks here or in any gold-standard 
country report " everybody well supplied with 
funds and business generally very satisfactory," 
or not ? Isn't it about time that the hard-headed 
business men of the country used their common 
sense and stopped cowering like frightened chil- 
dren at the bug-a-boo threats of the great editors? 
Could we not stand a good deal of that kind of 
ruin and disaster? 

Referring again to the evidence from Japan, we 
have the statements of Hon. Robert P. Porter, 
who has just returned from that country, where 
he has been investigating the industrial condi- 
tions. He says that he deems the question of 
Japanese competition one of the momentous prob- 
lems that the American nation will have to solve, 
and that the danger lies not so much in the present 
competition in the undeveloped state of Japanese 
resources as in the enormous rapidity of the 
growth of the Japanese output in all lines of 
manufacture which they enter. Ten years ago, 
according to Mr. Porter, the whole Japanese 
trade amounted to $78,000,000, while last year it 
had increased to $300,000,000. The export of 
textiles alone increased from $511,000 to $23,- 
000,000 in the ten years. 

The really important point to be noted in 
regard to this mass of evidence from Mexico, 



430 VOICE FROM BOSTON 

Japan, and in fact from all the silver-using coun- 
tries, is that the remarkable development has 
been made during the last ten years, or since the 
marked decline in the gold value of silver. In 
the case of Japan, that country, by reason of the 
commercial treaties forced upon it by England, 
was prevented from levying protective duties on 
imports. The native industries were able to 
make but litde headway against the imports from 
Europe, and for fifty years there was no progress 
to speak of. When England succeeded in forc- 
ing the gold standard on other countries and sil- 
ver was displaced, the premium on gold in Japan 
operated as a protective duty of about lOO per 
cent. This gave the stimulus needed, and, as the 
evidence proves, the development has been 
something wonderful. Of course, great indus- 
tries cannot be built up in a year, and we do not 
feel much of the force of Japanese competition 
as yet, but given another ten years, at the same 
rate of progress, and how will our industries bear 
up against it? 

An editorial in the Boston Herald, on the sub- 
ject of *' Competition with Asia," admits the facts 
as to the stimulating effect of the silver currency, 
and also the fact that "to purchase the ordinary 
country supplies an ounce of silver in the form of 
coin will go nearly as far in the form of compen- 
sation as it would when the same ounce was 
worth, as bullion, nearly twice as much as it is at 



VOICE FROM BOSTON 431 

the present time, and this under conditions in one 
form or another of nearly free coinage." The edi- 
tor attempts to explain this by the lack of intelli- 
gence and scant means of communication in those 
countries, so that the mass of the people do not 
realize the depreciation of silver. This would be 
plausible if it could be shown on the other hand 
that prices of ordinary country supplies in the 
gold-using countries had not fallen and the silver 
alone of all commodities had declined in value 
when measured in gold. As this is not true, and 
as the fact of the ruinous decline in all prices 
measured in gold is beyond dispute, the proof is 
absolute that the change in value is in the gold 
rather than in the silver. 

Of course, the Herald yearns for the wage- 
earner. It continues that if we brought our cur- 
rency to the Chinese basis, employers would pay 
wages in silver the equivalent of fifty cents in 
gold for what they are now paying 100 cents in 
gold. This, it claims, would be robbing the 
wage-earner. This is another form of the old 
stock free trade argument, which assumes that 
employers carry on business for the sole and 
only purpose of paying wages, and that the 
amount of wages paid is entirely optional with 
the employer, having no reference to profit or the 
selling prices of the products. Wages are con- 
sidered as fixed and arbitrary, and political econ- 
omy is, in effect, the science of giving the cheap- 
ly 



432 VOICE FROM BOSTON 

est prices or the most goods for the wages. The 
employers are always despots, who can be forced 
to sell at low prices while paying the highest 
wages. It is hardly necessary to point out the 
absurdity of such assumptions. A few weeks 
since, for example, it was announced that the 
Baldwin Straw Plating Works, at Milford, Conn., 
had arranged to ship their entire machinery to 
Japan, as they were unable to continue the com- 
petition here. Will this concern maintain an 
office in Milford and continue paying wages to 
the old employes in gold or not ? If not, how 
much do the wage-earners benefit by the gold 
standard ? When manufacturers of silk, cotton, 
woolen, iron, leather, boots and shoes and other 
lines, find it profitable to follow the Baldwin 
example, who will contiftue to pay wages at loo 
cents in gold to the idle workman ? Where will 
the gain for the wage-earners come in ? 

What is the use of trying to keep up such hum- 
bug arguments ? The people must come to their 
senses sooner or later. They must learn that 
employer cannot be separated from wage-earner, 
and that the latter depends absolutely on the 
prosperity of the former. Why not admit the 
fact that the gold standard and disuse of silver is 
forcing an unequal and ruinous competition in all 
industries? Every gold-using country feels it, 
and the people cannot always submit to be made 
slave? of the money-lenders, who exact their 



VOICE FROM BOSTON 433 

** pound of flesh nearest the heart." Let us have 
some fair discussion, instead of special pleading 
by the interested organ ; and for the good of 
common humanity, iet us honestly seek an honest 
remedy 



CHAPTER XXI. 
SPEECH OF HON. CLAUDE A. SWA^'^'^N 

RETIREMENT OF THE TREASURY NOTES AND THE 
FREE COINAGE OF SILVER. 

•' Mr. Chairman : There are two propositions 
pending before us for acceptance or rejection. 
The first proposition is the one passed by this Re- 
publican House last December, authorizing the 
Secretary of the Treasury to sell 5^500,000,000 of 
three per cent, bonds, with which to redeem all 
the outstanding Treasury notes, impound them 
in the Treasury, and thus contract the currency 
of this country to that extent. 

"When this proposal was first before the House 
I earnestly opposed it in a speech, and did my 
utmost to defeat it. I then pointed out that if 
this bill should ever become law, and the currency 
should be contracted to the extent designed, the 
actual money in circulation among the people 
would be less than half the annual taxes collected 
from them, less than half the annual interest paid, 
and would not be one- fortieth of the aggregate 
indebtedness of this country ; yet this House, 
with its immense Republican majority, by a lar§# 
434 



SWANSON'S SPEECH 435 

majority vote passed this bill to destroy this vas*' 
amount of money that had been preserved to tfea 
people by a Democratic House of Representa- 
tives. 

"This bill went to the Senate and there the 
Democratic Senators, led by Senator Jones, of 
Arkansas, aided by a few Republican and Popu- 
list Senators, defeated that iniquitous measure 
and substituted in its place a free-coinage bill, 
which that sterling Democrat from Georgia, Judge 
Crisp, now proposes that this House shall adopt 
instead of the bill it formerly passed. 

"Thus these two measures embody clearly and 
distinctly the two ideas struggling for supremacy 
in our financial system, 

"The proposal to sell bonds and to retire the 
Treasury notes, or greenbacks, is the only relief 
offered by the gold monometallist to remedy the 
present distressed situation. I am unalterably 
opposed to this. In the last Democratic House, 
when the friends of the present Administration 
sought to have a bill similar to this passed and 
the vast amount of paper money destroyed, 1 
earnestly spoke and voted against It. I am glad 
to say that the bill practically similar to this was 
defeated in the Democratic House by a large ma- 
jority. 

"This bill, indorsed nearly unanimously by the 
tremendous Republican majority in this House, 
commits this party in the future, without doubt 



436 SWANSON'S • SPEECH 

and without question, to the maintenance of the 
gold standard in this country. 

" The Repubhcan majority in this House ex- 
ceeds lOO, and the proposal for free coinage will 
be defeated by a vote equal to that majority. 

" The Republican party during the last canvass 
denounced the present Administration for selling 
bonds, and yet its first advent to power is marked 
by passing in this House, and insisting upon its 
enactment into law, a proposition to sell $500,- 
000,000 of bonds and the retirement from circu- 
lation of that amount of money. The Republican 
policy, as here disclosed, shows a complete alli- 
ance with the gold monometallists of this country. 
It shows that the Republican party still adheres 
to the financial teachings of Senator John Sher- 
man, who, in 1873, demonetized silver without 
cause, without excuse, and when it was at a pre- 
mium over gold of three per cent. It shows that 
this party's policy is a contraction and not an ex- 
pansion of the currency. It proves to the country 
what I have always known, that the party that 
wantonly destroyed silver will never consent to 
its rehabilitation. 

" In the future no one need be deceived. If he 
believes in and desires the remonetization of sil- 
ver, he must vote for and form alliances with a 
party different from the Republican party. 

" I shall not go over the ground that I did in 
my former speeches and point out the great dis- 



SWANSON'S SPEECH 437 

asters that must and will inevitably follow if this 
Republican measure becomes law and one-third 
of the legal-tender money of our country be de- 
stroyed without substituting anything in its place. 
In them I have pointed out how this would be fol- 
lowed by further stagnation in business and by a 
further fall in the prices of all products and 
property. 

" These two measures, as I have said, present 
clearly the two methods existing for the setding 
of our financial troubles. One is the solution of- 
fered by the single-standard gold man, and the 
other is the solution offered by those who believe 
in bimetallism. The solution of the gold man, 
clearly stated, is: We have a currency of about 
5^^500,000,000 of Treasury notes, about ^210,000,- 
000 of national bank notes, and about 425,000,000 
of standard silver dollars, with only about $600,- 
000,000 of gold. They claim that all this cur- 
rency is kept in circulation and at par by being 
practically redeemed in gold. They claim that 
there is a ' want of confidence ' in our ability to 
redeem this in gold, and that ' to restore this con- 
fidence' we should destroy or retire all of our 
Treasury notes. To retire these Treasury notes 
they propose to sell bonds either for them or for 
gold with which to redeem them. When redeem- 
ed they propose that the Treasury notes shall be 
either destroyed or locked up in the Treasury and 
kept out of circulation. 



438 SWANSON'S SPEECH 

"That this is their solution is shown by the re- 
cent sale of bonds and by the present proposition. 
When the Treasury notes have been destroyed, 
they propose to destroy the 425,000,000 of stand- 
ard silver dollars in circulation. They claim that 
this is only fiat money, and that all fiat money 
should be retired. Their determination to de- 
stroy this large amount in silver dollars is clearly 
shown by the veto of the bill directing the coinage 
of the silver bullion in the Treasury, and the re- 
fusal of this single gold standard Republican 
House to permit us ever to vote on that propo- 
sition. 

"They are opposed to repealing the tax on 
State banks and giving us a local currency to 
supplement our national currency. This was dis- 
closed when the vote was taken upon this ques- 
tion in the last Congress, when every single gold 
standard member, whether Democrat or Repub- 
lican, voted against it. 

"Their determination is to destroy all the legal- 
tender money in the country except gold and 
national bank notes redeemable in gold. They 
claim that when this is done, while the currency 
will be greatly contracted, yet confidence and 
credit will be restored. This is the entire relief 
offered by them to remove the present difficulties 
and bring back to the country the general diffusion 
of wealth and of prosperity. 

** I believe these remedies will but intensify and 



SWANSON'S SPEECH 430 

make greater the evils and distress which over- 
shadow us to-day. 

"The 'want of confidence' in our country to- 
day is not a want of confidence in our currency, 
but a want of confidence in the solvency and abil- 
ity of the producing classes to meet their obliga- 
tions. 

"I have yet to see a person who, when he re- 
fused another credit, debated in his mind whether 
the person would pay him in silver, gold or green- 
backs. The question in his mind is whether the 
person will be able to pay him at all. The want 
of confidence, if it exists, is because he is afraid 
the person could not pay in any kind of currency. 

"This want of confidence in the ability of the 
debtor to pay will be gready increased if the single 
gold standard men should succeed in reducing by 
more than half what can be used in payments. 
Activity in business, credit, confidence, and pros- 
perity cannot be revived until the value of all prod- 
ucts and property is restored. People will not 
trade nor buy on a declining market. A person 
will not buy goods on Monday when he expects 
they will be lower on Friday. A man will not 
purchase a lot, house, or farm this year when he 
sees them declining in value, as he expects to be 
able to do so for less the next year. Thus a de- 
clining market means losses, stagnation in busi- 
ness, and a paralysis of all activity. 

*♦ Falling prices also create distrust among credi- 



440 SWANSON'S SPEECH 

tors, and hence a collection of their debts. A 
creditor will not extend time to a debtor when he 
perceives the property upon which he depends 
for payment each year lessening in value. Thus 
failing prices necessarily create a liquidation of all 
debts. 

" The aggregate minimum indebtedness of this 
country in 1890 amounted to $20,227,170,546. 
The collection of this vast indebtedness is pro- 
ceeding not from any want of confidence in our 
currency, but from a want of confidence in the 
security and value of the property pledged for its 
payment. The truth of this is witnessed each 
day. 

"A bank loans money to a man of large busi- 
ness and great property. At the time of the loan 
the value of the property was far in excess of the 
amount loaned. The bank, seeing the great de- 
preciation in property, refuses to extend the loan, 
forces collection, sells the property at a greatly- 
reduced price, and the man who was rich finds 
himself bankrupt in the shrinkage of values. 

"Let us trace business in its actual ramifica- 
tions and see if the sources of the present troubles 
do not arise from the low price of all products and 
property. 

"A bank in New York loans money to a 
country bank. That bank, at a greater rate of 
interest, loans it to merchants and business men. 
These buy or manufacture goods which they sell 



SWANSON'S SPEECH 441 

to farmers or the producing classes. The wheat, 
corn, oats, tobacco, hay, horses, and cattle raised 
by them sell so low that they are unable to pay 
the merchant or manufacturer. The merchants 
and manufacturers, not being paid, are unable to 
pay the bank from which they borrowed. This 
bank, not having its outstanding notes paid, is 
unable to meet its own notes with the New York 
bank; The bank in New York, knowing the con- 
ditions, becomes uneasy. It forces the country 
bank to settle. This in turn forces the merchants 
and manufacturers to settle, who in turn force 
the farmer. The farmer, having disposed of his 
crop for less than cost of production, is compell- 
ed to have his farm and other property sold to 
pay his indebtedness. The value of his crops 
having been greatly reduced, his land and prop- 
erty engaged in the business are correspondingly 
reduced. Thus the sale, when made, fails to pay 
the merchant ; the merchant, being unpaid, can- 
not pay the home bank, and this bank cannot pay 
its depositors or the New York bank. Thus we 
have a bankrupt farmer, a failed merchant, a 
broken manufacturer, unemployed laborers, and 
a suspended bank, with all its evils and losses. 
Hundreds of cases like this have occurred and 
continue to occur. 

" The single gold standard man is blind enough 
to tell you that all this arises from a lack of con- 
fidence in our currency, resulting from the green- 



442 SWANSON'S SPEECH 

backs in circulation. His remedy is to contract 
the currency, and further lower the prices of all 
products and property. This remedy is as stupid 
as the old blood-letting process in medicine, 
which, when a patient was dying for want of blood, 
the ignorant doctors would bleed him. It is said 
that George Washington was killed by this rem- 
edy. It seems a strange fate that the country of 
which he was the father should now suffer from 
the same pernicious mistake. 

" It is evident to any thoughtful and reasoning 
mind that these deplorable conditions arise from 
the great, unnatural fall in the prices of all prod- 
ucts, and that if the prices of them continue to 
decline these evils will be greatly increased. Re- 
lief from these ruinous conditions will not come 
until we witness an advance in the prices of prod- 
ucts and of property. 

" David Hume, the noted philosopher and his- 
torian, long ago said : 

* If prices rise everything takes a new face ; labor and in- 
dustry gain life; the merchant becomes more enterprising, 
the manufacturer more diligent and skillful, and even the 
farmer follows his plow with greater alacrity and attention. 
If prices fall the poverty, begging, and sloth that must ensue 
are easily foreseen.' 

"What occasioned this present great fall in 
prices was the cause of our existing troubles. 
Whatever will restore these prices will remove 
debt, will revive credit and confidence, give em- 



SWANSON'S SPEECH 443 

ployment to labor, bring back business activity 
and enterprise, and bless the land with plenty and 
prosperity. 

"We who advocate bimetallism — that is, the 
free and unlimited coinage of both gold and silver 
at the mints at a fixed ratio — believe that the great 
fall in prices results from the demonetization of 
silver and the adoption of gold alone as the 
standard of value. We believe that, this being 
the cause, prices will be enhanced or restored 
when we remonetize silver and let our standard 
of value rest, as formerly, upon both gold and 
silver. We claim that the value of everything is 
regulated by the great law of supply and demand. 
That this great and universal law ot supply and 
demand regulates the value of money when ex- 
changed for commodities. 

"We claim that as society has progressed, 
wealth increased, commerce enlarged, and tre- 
mendous new enterprises been undertaken, taxes, 
interest, and all fixed charges been augmented, 
the demand for money has become greater ; that 
while the demand for money has gready increased, 
yet the supply of it has been reduced half since 
1873, when silver was demonedzed and gold made 
the standard of value or money of final payment ; 
that the demand for money of final payment hav- 
ing increased and the supply lessened by half, the 
value of things exchanged for it. or measured by 
it, must necessarily be reduced correspondingly. 



444 SWANSON'S SPEECH 

"Thus the natural result of destroying half the 
money of the world would be to greatly appre- 
ciate the value of the remaining half and re- 
duce to that extent the value of all products and 
property exchanged for or measured by it. 

"John Locke, the greatest of all English think- 
ers, many years ago said : 

'For the value of money, in general, is the quantity of all 
the money in the world in proportion to all the trade.' 

"This is a profund truth, and but emphasizes 
what I here insist upon, that as our trade has 
wonderfully increased since 1873, and as one-half 
of our primary money was then destroyed, the re- 
sult has been to double the price of gold, and 
hence reduce by half the value of everything sold 
for gold. 

" John Stuart Mill, the great thinker and writer 
upon this question, has well said: 

' That an increase in the quantity of money raises prices 
and a diminution lowers them, is the most elementary propo- 
sition in the theory of coinage, and without it we should have 
no key to any of the others.' 

•'This self-evident truth must show that the 
destruction of half of the money of the world 
must result in an equal reduction in the price of 
all commodities. 

" This vital truth was recognized by the fathers 
of this Republic when our Government was or- 
ganized. 



SWANSOX'S SPEECH 445 

" Alexander Hamilton in his famous report of 
1 79 1, said: 

* To annul the use of either metal as money is to abridge 
the quantity of circulating medium and is liable to all the ob- 
jections which arise from a comparison of the benefits of a full 
with a scanty circulation.' 

"The immortal Jefferson, who had the interest 
of the people at heart more than any American 
leader and who was the father of the Democratic 
party, in February, 1792, said: 

' I concur with you that the unit must stand on both 
metals.' 

" I stand here to-day as a Democrat, receiving 
my inspiration from Jefferson and not from the 
latter-day saints of the party, and repeat that the 
'unit of value must stand on both metals.' 
That is Democracy. That is bimetallism. 

"In 1852, R. M. T. Hunter, one of the most 
talented and distinguished sons of Virginia, in a 
report made to the Senate as Chairman of the 
Committee on Finance, said : 

« But the mischief would be great, indeed, if all the world 
were to adopt but one of the precious metals as the standard 
of value. To adopt gold alone would diminish the specie cur- 
rency more than half, and the reduction the other way, should 
silver be taken as the only standard, would be large enough to 
prove highly disastrous to the human race. We require, then, 
for this reason, the double standard of gold and silver, but 
above all do we require both to counteract the tendency of the 
specie standard to contract under the vast increase of the value 
z£ the property of the world.' 



446 SWANSON'S SPEECH 

" Thus forty-two years ago, when we had the 
double standard and were blessed with unex- 
ampled prosperity and progress, this wise states- 
man and sage of Virginia prophesied the great 
mischief and evils which would inevitably follow 
if we should ever adopt but one metal as our 
standard of value. The Republican party in 
1873 did just what this wise Democrat had over 
twenty years before warned them against. The 
debt, the misery, the failures, the stagnation in 
business, the unemployed labor, the low price of 
all products and property, and the scarcity of 
money bear evidence to-day of a complete fulfil- 
ment of this prediction. Thus we can trace back 
clearly and distinctly, our present distress to the 
existence of the gold standard. Relief cannot 
and will not come until we abandon this and again 
put our standard of value upon both gold and sil- 
ver. But I will not stop the investigation of this 
question here. 

I have proven that the present ruinous condi- 
tions result from the prevalence of this great fall 
in the price of everything, and that relief will only 
come from a rise in prices. 

" I will now investigate the history of the rise 
and fall in the price of commodities, so that we 
can also ascertain the cause of the present low 
prices by historical data. 

" The London Econotnist, a paper of world-wide 
fame for ability and statistical knowledge, has 



SWANSON'S SPEECH 447 

compiled the average prices of twenty-two lead- 
ing commodities on the ist of January of each 
year from the year 1846, which is very instructive 
and significant. This compilation shows that the 
price of these twenty-two leading commodities 
increased in value from 1845 to 1873, and that 
from 1873 to the ist of January, 1892, they had 
fallen about 33 per cent. 

"Augustus Sauerbeck, of the London Statis- 
tical Society, a man of eminence and ability, has 
investigated the prices of forty-five leading and 
representative commodities on the London market 
with the same astounding results, that the average 
price of these gradually increased until 1873, 
when the increase ceased and a decline com- 
menced, which amounted, with the forty-five com- 
modities, to about 34 per cent, in 1892. 

" Dr. Soetbeer, statisdcian for Hamburg, Ger- 
many, and a famous economic authority, compiled 
the prices of 100 leading articles on the Hamburg 
market and fourteen of British exports with the 
same astounding result, that commencing with 
1873 the average price of these had gradually 
declined, until in 1891 their decline amounted to 
22 per cent. 

"In 1 89 1 a committee of the United States 
Senate investigated the prices in this country of 
223 articles, and in a report to Congress shows 
that since 1873 the average price of these has de- 
clined 28 per cent. 



448 SWANSON'S SPEECH 

"In 1872 the price of wheat was $1.24 per 
bushel; in 1894 it was 49 cents per bushel. In 
1873 the price of cotton was 20.14 cents per 
pound; in 1894 it was 6.94 cents per pound. 

" Statistics will exhibit the same great fall in the 
price of tobacco, corn, oats, cattle and horses, as 
well as in other commodities. These statistics 
are undisputed even by the gold monometallists. 
They are gathered from sources so reliable, pre- 
sented by men of such reputation and authority, 
so in accord with our own knowledge and experi- 
ence, that they cannot and will not be denied. 
They all agree in one thing — that, commencing 
with the year 1873, the world over, prices have 
fearfully declined. Consequently it is evident 
that at that time something must have occurred 
to occasion a condition so world-wide. 

"We examine and we find that in 1872 Norway 
and Sweden substituted the gold standard for the 
silver standard. We find that in 1873 the United 
States abandoned the double standard of gold 
and silver and adopted the single gold standard. 
We find that the same year Germany went from 
the silver standard to the single gold standard. 
We find that in a very short time after Germany 
does this France and the Latin Union suspend the 
free coinage of silver and substitute the gold 
standard. Thus about this time occurred a con- 
vulsion in the financial world surpassing any 
which ever transpired in the physical world. The 



SWANSON'S SPEECH 449 

great commercial nations of the world at this 
time went from the double standard of value to 
the single gold standard. 

" It is impossible to point out anything else that 
happened at this time to precipitate a fall in 
prices. 

"Why should prices be on an ascending plane 
until 1873 and then suddenly take a declining 
plane, which becomes greater each year ? There 
were no great inventions in that year to cheapen 
production and hence to reduce prices. That 
year marked no overproduction so as to account 
for the sudden change. 

"Any thoughtful mind, bent upon the ascer- 
tainment of the truth, must be convinced beyond 
doubt that the low prices the world over, com- 
mencing with the demonetization of silver, must 
have been caused by that and nothing else. 

"I have proven that all the accepted authorities 
upon financial questions agree that when you 
lessen the amount of primary money you lower 
the price of everything exchanged for money. I 
have shown that the wisest of statesmen and 
thinkers years before prophesied that if the world 
should ever discard either of the two money met- 
als and adopt only one lower prices would result 
and the very diastrous conditions that now con- 
front us would inevitably come. I have traced 
from facts and statistics, undisputed by anyone, 
that the fall in prices commenced, as foretold, 



450 SWANSON'S SPEECH 

precisely at the time that the world destroyed sil- 
ver as one of the money metals. Can arguments 
or facts be more conclusive ? I have shown that 
this fall in prices commenced in 1873, and resulted 
from demonetizing silver and destroying its mon- 
etary functions. Thus the proper relief from the 
present distress is plain and unmistakable. 

"The relief which will restore prices, revive 
business, encourage industries, inspire confidence, 
give employment to labor, and pay debts is the 
restoration of silver as one of the money metals, 
as it existed prior to 1873. 

"We must right the crime of that year. We 
must leave the darkness in which we are now 
groping and return to the light and sunshine we 
then left. 

"We do not know where this new departure 
on the gold standard will take us. We do not 
even know that prices have touched the bottom. 
We have no experience behind us to tell us what 
will be the ultimate effect of the gold standard. 
The world never tried the gold standard prior to 
1873. Since its adoption, in falling prices, in the 
vast accumulation of debt, in the numerous and 
immense failures, in the frequent and great panics, 
in paralyzed business, in the mistrust and wretch- 
edness which overshadow the country, we witness 
its ruinous effects. 

" I am no alarmist, but thought and reflection 
teach me that if the gold standard is to be per- 



SWANSON'S SPEECH 451 

manently maintained and the policies and designs 
of its advocates, as here disclosed, to be carried 
out that we will witness a yet greater fall in the 
prices of all commodities, and a further shrinkage 
in all values, with their attendant evils. It is in- 
evitable. 

" We have just completed a reassessment of 
the land in my home county, Pittsylvania, and in 
the city of Danville, situated therein. The les- 
sons taught by it are significant. It presents how 
frightfully the gold standard is shrinking the value 
of lands. In 1890 the real estate in Pittsylvania 
county was assessed at $4,012,464. In 1895 the 
assessment amounted to only $3,115,938, being 
$846,526 less in 1895 than in 1890. With all the 
buildings and improvements put upon the lands 
their value was reduced in five years over 20 per 
cent. The supply of land did not increase during 
the five years, while the demand did on account 
of increased population. Thus, under natural con- 
ditions, we should have expected an increase in- 
stead of a decrease in its value from 1890 to 1895. 
The lands there will now scarcely bring half as 
much as they would prior to the demonetization 
of silver. 

" The assessment for the city of Danville pre- 
sents the same remarkable conditions. In 1890 
the real estate assessed in Danville amounted to 
$5,170,928. In 1895 it amounted to only $4,650,- 
406, being a reduction of $520,522. Here is a 



452 SWANSON'S SPEECH 

city with great improvements and buildings during 
this time, with increased population; yet, including 
all these, a reduction in five years of over half a 
million of dollars In real estate values. 

" When we ponder these startling figures, we 
can readily understand how farmers and business 
men who were formerly prosperous and rich find 
themselves bankrupt and impoverished. They 
have been ruined not by any fault of their own, 
but by the shrinkage in the value of their prop- 
erty. This shrinkage continues under this single 
gold standard, and no one knows when it will 
cease. 

" The world's supply of gold is too small to 
give value to its immense amount of property. 
Each year witnesses a greater struggle for its pos- 
session, and hence a greater sacrifice of property 
to obtain it. 

" The only way to remove the present evils and 
prevent the greater ones which await us is to 
again give silver the right of free and unlimited 
coinage at the mints. 

" This is the reHef proposed by us in opposition 
to the Republican measure to sell five hundred mil- 
lions of bonds and retire that amount of paper 
money. We are prepared to appeal to the coun- 
try upon the two methods of relief here presented. 

"The gold monometallist cannot deceive the 
people by a pretended friendship for silver in ad- 
vocating an international agreement. There is 



SWANSON'S SPEECH 453 

not the remotest chance of an international ao-ree- 
ment. The last hopes of one have disappeared. 
We were told to wait only until Lord Salisbury 
and the Tory party of England should come into 
power and soon an agreement would be reached. 
They have attained power by an immense major- 
ity and have distinctly stated that England has no 
intention of changing her present gold standard 
or entering into any international agreement for 
the coinage of silver. France and Germany have 
distinctly stated that they would be parties to no 
agreement without England. Thus there is no 
hope for any international agreement. It is use- 
less to discuss an international agreement which 
will never come. The people who advocate delay- 
ing action upon the silver question until an inter- 
national agreement can be reached are not friendly 
to silver and only indulge in it to delay action by 
creating hopes which will never be realized. The 
people of the United States must continue the 
present gold standard or must alope adopt the 
double standard of gold and silver. This is plain 
and clear. It is an issue which must be met, and 
which politicians may try but they cannot dodge 
nor deceive the people upon. 

" If one favors the gold standard then he must 
approve the recent sales of bonds, the present 
Republican measure to sell $500,000,000 worth 
of bonds to retire that amount of paper money, 
and finally to destroy all the standard silver dol- 



454 SWANSON'S SPEECH 

lars. If the gold standard is to be maintained all 
of this will inevitably follow. It cannot and will 
not be prevented. If one is opposed to all this 
and believes that it will bring disaster and not relief, 
then he should advocate that the United States 
should again reopen its mints to the free and un- 
limited coinage of silver and again make silver 
money of primary payment. 

"I believe this. I am opposed to any sale of 
bonds. I am opposed to retiring the greenbacks 
and contracting the currency. I believe that the 
coin notes should be redeemed in either gold or 
silver, at the option of the Government and not 
of the holder. I believe that a continuance of the 
gold standard will precipitate a continued and a 
frightful fall in the prices of all commodities. I 
believe that it has more than doubled all debts, 
taxes, interest, and fixed charges. I believe that 
when our mints are opened to silver, prices will 
advance and the present troubles will disappear. 

"Being convinced that there is no chance for an 
international agreement, I am prepared to vote 
for this country at once to resume the free and 
unlimited coinage of silver. 

"No evils which the distorted imaginations of 
those who oppose this have presented can equal 
those which I am convinced will come if we con- 
tinue the single gold standard. 

"I am convinced that the United States is able 
to do this and maintain all the silver coined at a 



SWANSON'S SPEECH 455 

parity with gold. I believe that when this is done 
silver bullion will rise in value until it is worth 
the coinage value. Every silver dollar coined to- 
day is at a par with gold. It is only the uncoined 
silver that is not at par. All that will be coined 
at our mints and made a legal tender will circulate 
at par with gold. We have experience in the 
past that should convince us that the United 
States is able to do this. 

"France, from 1803 to 1873, by having her 
mints open to the free coinage of both gold and 
silver at the ratio of 15^ to i, maintained that 
parity between them the world over. She was 
able to do this despite the great disparity existing 
during that time in the production and quantity 
of gold and silver. We to-day are more prepared 
to do this than was France when she maintained it. 

" Statistics in 1870 show that France had about 
10 per cent, of the imports and exports of the 
world. In 1889 the United States had nearly 10 
per cent, of the imports and exports of the world, 
Mulhall, the world's greatest statistician, shows 
that the productive power of the United States is 
three times as great as was that of France in 1870 
in proportion to the rest of the world. In 1870 
France furnished less than 12 per cent, of the 
world's great agricultural products, while to-day 
we furnish about 20 per cent, of the world's sup- 
ply. France in 1870 produced about 13 per cent, 
of the world's manufactures, and the United 



456 SWANSON'S SPEECH 

States to-day furnishes almost 31 per cent, of the 
world's entire product. In 1870 France had about 
7^ per cent, of the world's railway mileage, while 
the United States now has about 44 per cent, of 
the world's entire mileage. In 1870 France's 
banking power in comparison with that of the 
world was 4 per cent, and the United States to- 
day has 32 per cent, of that of the world. In in- 
ternal commerce and business we greatly exceed 
the proportion that was then possessed by France. 
Our wealth to-day in comparison with that of the 
world far exceeds what France's was in compari- 
son with that of the world in 1870. Thus, by 
whatever test measured, the United States is able 
to do more than France did at that time. Yet 
from 1803 to 1873 France was able to maintain 
the parity between gold and silver the world over 
at the ratio of 15^ to i. She did this despite the 
fact, that at that time the average number of 
ounces of silver in the world was thirty times as 
great as the average number of ounces of gold. 
To-day the number of ounces of silver in the 
world is about sixteen times as great as the num- 
ber of ounces of gold — the ratio at which we pro- 
pose to resume coinage. Thus to resume coinage 
as proposed in the United States, with all its 
greater ability and power, would only have to do 
half as much as France accomplished for seventy 
years. There should be no question that we can 
do this. We are safe in making the venture. 



SWANSON'S SPEECH 457 

Success will crown our efforts. All we need is 
the courage and the resolution to establish our 
own financial system, suited to our wants and 
needs. I am convinced by thought and study 
that the United States is amply able to resume 
the coinage of silver and maintain parity. I am 
convinced that when this is done, prices will be 
restored and general prosperity and progress will 
return. I am convinced that the paths that the 
single gold standard men are trying to entice us 
into will but carry us further into the night of 
darkness and plunge us deeper into the abyss of 
sorrow and distress. 

" Mr. Chairman, this great issue is now before 
<he American people, and they are stirred upon it 
as they were never stirred before. They recog- 
nize the vast importance and the far-reaching 
consequences which will result from the proper 
settlement of this vital question. 

" The coming great conflict, which will be fought 
to the finish, is the battle of the standards. The 
people have become tired of the miserable make- 
shifts and the temporary policies which the poli- 
ticians have devised to avoid the settlement of this 
great question. The people can no longer be 
deceived. 

"The great masses of the people are convinced 
that the continuance of the gold standard only 
benefits the capitalists and money lenders, and is 
destructive of the interests of the laborer, farmer, 



458 SWANSON'S SPEECH 

merchant and the business man. Politicians may 
try, but they cannot create false issues. Issues 
exist in the condition and in the minds of the 
people, and they must be met. This great prob- 
lem cannot be brushed aside. Each year it rises 
into more and more importance. 

"The intense struggle of the people for this 
reform is but a supreme effort on their part to re- 
lease themselves from the greed, avarice and 
domination of the moneyed classes. 

"The boast of the Democracy in all the years 
of its history has been that it is the party of the 
common people ; that it is the champion of the 
rights of the toiling laboring masses. It has 
never espoused the cause of classes seeking to 
enrich themselves by depredation upon the 
masses. It is too late for it to do so now. It 
cannot climb upon the gold standard platform 
without trespassing upon ground long since occu- 
pied by and belonging to the Republican party. 

"The issue is clear. The duty of Democracy 
is plain. It should make common cause with the 
people, remain true to its traditions and history, 
and carry the country back to that system and to 
those principles which our fathers founded and 
which gave us great prosperity and wealth, and 
the departure from which has brought us to our 
present woes and distresses." (Applause.) 



CHAPTER XXII. 

AFTER THE CAMPAIGN OF 1896. 

As a guide to the reader and justice to the 
authors it is proper to say that the preceding 
part of this book was prepared by Mr. R. L. 
Metcalf, whose acquaintance with the great 
leader of the hosts of bimetallism qualifies him 
eminently for the work. The following chapters, 
bearing more directly upon the campaign of 1900 
and its issues, are by Mr. A. J. Munson. This 
arrangement happily divides the work both in 
time and subjects. 

The Presidential campaign of 1896 was one of 
the most hotly contested campaigns in the his- 
tory of the Republic. Under the leadership of 
Mr. Bryan the Democratic party forced the Re- 
publicans to join issue on bimetallism at the 
ratio of 16 to i, and the campaign was conducted 
largely on this question. On the Republican 
side were arrayed all the forces that capital and 
aggregate wealth could muster. The advocates 
of the single standard paid Mr. Bryan a higli 
compliment in the way they organized to fight 
him and his cause. Compared with the re- 
sources that were arrayed against him, Mr. 
Bryan had but little except his own power with 
which to conduct the battle. But, confident in 

459 



460 AFTER THE CAMPAIGN 

the righteousness of his cause and in the sense 
of the people to adopt free silver if they were 
but made to understand its beneficial effects, he 
worked as no candidate ever worked before. 

The election which followed this wonderful 
campaign was a close contest — so close that it 
was a surprise to everybody. The friends of free 
silver, considering the powerful forces arrayed 
against them, were surprised that the supporters 
of the gold standard did not poll a larger vote. 
The result showed that bimetallism was a strong 
issue with the people, and that Mr. Bryan was 
a popular champion of the cause. The popular 
vote was 7,104,244 for Mr. McKinley, and 6,506,- 
835 for Mr. Bryan. There were 134,552 Demo- 
crats, supporting the gold standard, wlip voted 
for Mr. Palmer. The electoral vote was 271 for 
Mr. McKinley and 176 for Mr. Bryan. The 
popular election was so close that the changing 
of less than 300,000 votes would have given Mr. 
Bryan a majority of the popular vote. 

Two days after the election, November 6, when 
enough figures had been received to establish 
beyond dispute the election of Mr. McKinley, 
Mr. Bryan made the following announcement, 
which was received with universal satisfaction 
all over the country : 

" Conscious that millions of loyal hearts are 
saddened by temporary defeat, I beg to offer a 
word of hope and encouragement. No cause 



AFTER THE CAMPAIGN 461 

ever had supporters more brave, earnest, and de- 
voted than those who have espoused the cause of 
bimetalhsm. They have fought from conviction, 
and have fought with all the zeal which conviction 
inspires. Events will prove whether they are 
right or wrong. Having done their duty as they 
saw it, they have nothing to regret. 

"The Republican candidate has been heralded 
as the advance agent of prosperity. If his poli- 
cies bring real prosperity to the American peo- 
ple, those who opposed him will share in that 
prosperity. If, on the other hand, his policies 
prove an injury to the people generally, those of 
his supporters who do not belong to the office- 
holding class, or to the privileged classes, will 
suffer in common with those who opposed him. 

" The friends of bimetallism have not been van- 
quished ; they have simply been overcome. They 
believe that the gold standard is a conspiracy of 
the money changers against the welfare of the 
human race, and until convinced of their error 
they will continue the warfare against it. 

" The contest has been waged this year under 
great embarrassments and against great odds. 
For the first time during this generation public 
attention has been centered upon the money 
question as the paramount issue, and this has 
been done in spite of all attempts upon the part 
of our opponents to prevent it. The Republican 
Convention held out the delusive hope of mter- 



462 * AFTER THE CAMPAIGN 

national bimetallism, while Republican leaders 
labored secretly for gold monometallism. Gold- 
otandard Democrats have publicly advocated the 
election of the Indianapolis ticket, while they la- 
bored secredy for the election of the Republican 
ticket. The trusts and corporations have tried to 
excite a fear of lawlessness, while they themselves 
have been defying the law, and American finan- 
ciers have boasted that they were the custodians 
of National honor, while they were secretly bar- 
tering away the Nation's financial independence. 

" But, in spite of the efforts of the Administra- 
tion and its supporters, in spite of the threats of 
money loaners at home and abroad, in spite of 
the coercion practiced by corporate employers, 
in spite of trusts and syndicates, in spite of an 
enormous Republican campaign fund, and in spite 
of the influence of a hostile daily press, bimetal- 
lism has almost triumphed in its first great fight. 
The loss of a few States, and that, too, by very 
small pluralities, has defeated bimetallism for the 
present, but bimetallism emereges from the con- 
test strono^er than it was four months a^o. 

" I desire to commend the work of the three 
National Committees which have joined in the 
management of this campaign. Co-operation 
between the members of distinct political organi- 
zations is always difficult, but it has been less so 
this year than usual. Interest in a common cause 
of great importance has reduced friction to a 



AFTER THE CAMPAIGN 463 

minimum. I hereby express my personal orati- 
tude to the individual members as well as the ex- 
ecutive officers of the National Committee of the 
Democratic, Populist, and Silver Parties for their 
efficient, untiring, and unselfish labors. They 
have laid the foundation for future success, and 
will be remembered as pioneers when victory is 
at last secured. 

" No personal or political friend need grieve 
because of my defeat. My ambition has been to 
secure immediate legislation, rather than to enjoy 
the honors of office, and, therefore, defeat brings to 
me no feeling of personal loss. Speaking for the 
wife who has shared my labors, as well as for my- 
self, I desire to say that we have been amply 
repaid for all that we have done. 

"In the love of millions of our fellow-citizens, 
so kindly expressed, in knowledge gained by per- 
sonal contact with the people, and in broadened 
sympathies, we find full compensation for what- 
ever efforts we have put forth. Our hearts have 
been touched by the devotion of friends, and our 
lives shall prove our appreciation of the affection 
of the plain people, an affection which we prize 
as the richest reward which this campaign has 
brought. 

"In the face of an enemy rejoicing in its victory, 
let the roll be called for the next engagement, and 
urge all friends of bimetallism to renew their alle- 
giance to the cause. If we are right, as I believe 



464 AFTER THE CAMPAIGN 

we are, we shall yet triumph. Until convinced of 
his error, let each advocate of bimetallism con- 
tinue the work. Let all silver clubs retain their 
organization, hold regular meetings, and circulate 
literature. Our opponents have succeeded in 
this campaign, and must now put their theories to 
the test. Instead of talking mysteriously about 
'sound money' and 'an honest dollar,' they must 
now elaborate and defend a financial system. 
Every step taken by them should be publicly con- 
sidered by the silver clubs. Our cause has pros- 
pered most where the money question has been 
longest discussed among the people. During the 
next four years it will be studied all over this 
nation even more than it has been studied in the 
past. 

"The year 1900 is not far away. Before that 
year arrives, international bimetallism will cease 
to deceive ; before that year arrives, those who 
have called themselves gold standard Democrats 
will become bimetallists and be with us, or they 
will become Republicans and be open enemies ; 
before that year arrives, trusts will have con- 
vinced still more people that a trust is a menace 
to private welfare and public safety ; before that 
year arrives, the evil effects of a gold standard 
will be even more evident than they are now, and 
the people then ready to demand an American 
financial policy for the American people will join 
with us in the immediate restoration of the free 



AFTER THE CAMPAIGN 465 

and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the 
present legal ratio of 16 to i, without waiting for 
the aid or consent of any other nation. 

" W. J. BRYAN." 

During the campaign of 1896 Mr. Bryan's 
opponents were lavish in their charges that he 
was not sincere in his advocacy of bimetallism ; 
that he was only the tool of those who would 
profit by the restoration of silver to legitimate 
monetary uses. No man, by act or word, ever 
nailed a falsehood so completely as did Mr. 
Bryan this one. Had he been insincere, or had 
he fought the battle of bimetallism for personal 
honor and gain, he had ample opportunities for 
reward after the campaign was over. He was 
flooded with profitable offers from the business 
and professional fields — offers, some of them, 
that would have tempted an insincere man of 
no more wealth than Mr. Bryan possessed. Mr. 
Bryan accepted none of them. He had con- 
ducted the most exhaustive campaign ever con- 
ducted by a party leader. As a writer put it at 
the time : " Mr. Bryan has made more speeches 
to more people and shaken more hands than any 
other man that ever was or now is in the world, 
and still his voice is unworn and his digestion 
unimpaired in spite of dollar dinners." 

He did not sulk when the news of the election 
reached him. He did not give up the fight. He 
did not accept tempting offers that would have 



466 AFTER THE CAMPAIGN 

made liim rich, but would have taken him away 
from the work of teaching and advocating 
bimetallism. He believed, as he believes to-day, 
in the free coinage of silver as the people's cause, 
and for that cause he was and is willing to work. 
In this faith he rolled up his sleeves immediately 
after the election and began another campaign. 

His career since then has been one of ceaseless 
activity. He has continued to write, lecture and 
make political speeches. He has traveled almost 
incessantly in the various States of the Union, 
and yet has not been able to fill more than a 
fraction of the demands upon his time. For 
some of these lectures he has received fees, but 
most of his work has been given to the cause. 
Directly after the election he wrote a book on 
the contest, which had a large sale. So earnest 
was he in his support of bimetallism that he 
gave a part of his royalties to the spreading of 
intelligence on this subject. 

In the early days of the Spanish- American war 
Mr. Bryan raised a regiment of volunteers in his 
State and was commissioned its Colonel. His 
regiment was assigned to General Fitzhugh Lee's 
command, stationed in the South, and kept there 
until the war was over. Colonel Bryan was then 
assigned to garrison duty in Cuba. He went 
there, but resigned shortly afterwards, the duties 
not being of sufficient importance to warrant him 
in wasting his time. 



AFTER THE CAMPAIGN 467 

The most ungenerous and ungallant treatment 
that President McKinley could possibly have 
given an opponent, he gave Colonel Bryan. It 
was so shabby that it could have been accorded 
only by a little politician. Had President Mc- 
Kinley not been moved by personal motives he 
would not have permitted Colonel Bryan to 
be kept away from the seat of war. It seems 
probable that the President anticipated that 
he and Colonel Bryan would again be pitted 
against each other in a race for the White 
House, and that he kept Colonel Bryan out 
of battle for fear that the latter might make 
a war record that would fire the multitudes 
with that enthusiasm which is born of hero- 
ism, and make him not only the champion 
of their cause but their idol as well. Mr. 
Bryan has demonstrated that he is of the stuff 
that dares and does, and had he gotten into the 
jungles around Santiago it is more than probable 
that there would have been none braver and more 
forward in the heroic charges that swept Spanish 
rule from the island. ^ 

Since the close of his military experience Mr. ^ 
Bryan has been making as many public addresses , 
as ever. It has been no uncommon occurrence | 
for him to travel between 200 and 300 miles a 
day, and make as many as seventeen set speeches 
a day and three impromptu speeches to each 
set speech. He has spoken on an average five 



468 AFTER THE CAMPAIGN 

hours a day on some of liis trips, has spokeu as 
early as 5.30 A. m. and as late as midnight. He 
has kept this up for sixty hours at a stretch with 
only seven hours sleep. His physical endurance 
is a marvel to his friends. 

Those who have had an opportunity to observe 
Colonel Bryan under various conditions agree 
that there have been notable changes in his 
character and manners and in his habits of 
thought since he came so prominently before the 
public in 1896 as a candidate for the Presidency. 
In appearance he has aged considerably during 
the last four years. He has lost most of the 
hair on the top of his head and retains only the 
heavy cataract that hangs as a fringe around the 
cerebellum and rests upon the collar of his coat. 
His face is much stronger and fuller than it was 
four years ago. He has gained considerable 
flesh, notwithstanding his arduous work upon 
the stump and platform, and weighs between 
thirty and forty pounds more than in 1896, tip- 
ping the scales at an easy 200. This increase 
shows in his face as well as in the regions of his 
waistcoat. His cheeks are fuller, the dimple in 
his chin is more apparent, and his jowl is heavier. 
That he leads an absteminous life and eats 
frugal fare is easily evident from his clear eyes 
and complexion. He is a man of small appetite 
and simple tastes, neither a glutton nor a wine 
bibber, although not a teetotaler either in theory 



AP-TER THE CAMPAIGN 469 

or practice. He never uses wines or beer on his 
table, although he sometimes drinks both when 
offered him at the tables of others. " If you are 
expecting to stay long," said the gentleman from 
North Carolina to the gentleman from South 
Carolina, as they were leaving the hotel for their 
candidate's cottage, "you had better put in a 
couple of drinks before you go. They never 
offer their visitors liquor out there." 

Mr. Bryan is addicted to milk and iced tea, 
but he cares as little about his food and his drink 
as any man living, and Mrs. Bryan is equally 
indifferent. The appearance of the cottage 
inside and out indicates that she is a neat and 
careful housekeeper, but she takes more interest 
in Buckle's " History of Civilization " than in 
her cook book. She keeps only one servant — a 
Swedish maid-of-all-work. Those who have had 
the honor of dining with the Bryans say that the 
fare was plain but plentiful, and served without 
formality. Ruth, the eldest daughter, who is 
about 16, changed the plates, and the cook 
brought the viands from the kitchen. They live 
just in the same manner as the average Lincoln 
family of their means, in a most simple and 
democratic way. 

Mr. Bryan's face is stronger, the lines around 
his mouth are firmer and show more repose of 
manner than formerly. He has lost that restless 
inquiring expression that used to lie about his 



470 AFTER THE CAMPAIGN 

eyes, and lie has more strength and confidence, 
more deliberation and determination, and less 
energy. His nervous impetuousness has been 
subdued. He is governed more by reason and 
less by impulse. Experience has taught him 
where he is weak, and he has mended himself. 
He has learned his strength, and that has given 
him confidence. 

While his emotions are under better control 
than they used to be, nothing could lessen or 
suppress that cordial sympathy which finds ex- 
pression in a winsome smile. It is just as much 
a part of the man as the musical tones of his voice, 
and when he extends his hand to friend or 
stranger the smile goes with it. Sometimes, 
however, it is a little constrained. Its owner is 
an amiable man. His spirit is not vindictive or 
revengeful. He is quick to forgive, but not 
always to forget ; and when he meets a man 
from whom he has suffered injury or injustice 
the smile appears unconsciously, but it has an 
uncertain or reluctant tinge, like a compliment 
that has been written and crossed out. He is 
not so sensitive as he used to be, but very sensi- 
tive still; but perhaps it may be that he has 
learned to conceal it. The same may be said of 
Mrs. Bryan, who was formerly unable and un- 
willing to conceal her dislikes and distrust and 
the sense of injury when she felt it, but she has 
learned to be cordial and courteous to the critics 



AFTER THE CAMPAIGN 471 

and opponents of her husband, and discuss 
affairs and events with them without showing 
resentment. 

There is nothing of the demagogue in Mr. 
Bryan. He treats the humblest citizen with the 
same consideration that he would show to Sen- 
ator Jones or Richard Croker, because the doc- 
trine of equality is a part of his religion. He is 
less enthusiastic than he was four years ago, but 
has greater determination and a more indomitable 
purpose. While he must know that his personal 
appearance and manners are attractive, he is still 
indifferent to dress. While he was being nomi- 
nated for the Presidency the second time he wore 
a rather rusty black slouch hat, a low-cut broad- 
cloth vest, a loose alpaca jacket, a white shirt, a 
turn-down collar, a frayed black silk string tie, 
and a pair of ordinary calf- skin low shoes that 
are seldom polished. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE CONVENTION OF 1900. 

In a mighty amphitheater in Kansas City, 
Mo,, festooned and draped with the colors that 
freemen love, the Democratic National Conven- 
tion of 1900 met July 4th, to nominate William 
J. Bryan a second time for the Presidency of the 
United States. 

The Convention was called to order by Senator 
J. K.Jones, Chairman of the National Democratic 
Committee. The formal call of the Convention 
was read by Secretary Walsh. Prayer was of- 
fered by the Rev. Dr. S. M. Neel of Kansas City, 
after which, in a speech full of patriotism and 
happy expressions, Mayor Reed welcomed the 
delegates and tendered to them the keys of the 
city. Chairman Jones then announced Governor 
Thomas of Colorado as Temporary Chairman. 
On taking the chair, Governor Thomas spoke as 
follows : 

" We meet under most auspicious influences. 
On the national birthday, in a great central city 
of the Republic, at the close and opening of a 
century, we come together to reaffirm our allegi- 
ance to the principles of Thomas Jefferson and 

our loyalty to their greatest living exponent. 
472 



CONVENTION OF 



[900 473 



We have been selected by the farmer and the 
artisan, the miner and the mechanic, the pro- 
ducers of wealth in every State and territory of 
this mighty nation, to register a decree they 
have already determined, to proclaim a candidate 
they have already chosen. We come not with 
the pomp and circumstance of consolidated 
wealth, but as the delegates of the plain people 
who believe that all men were created equal, and 
that all governments derive their just powers 
from the consent of the governed. We are not 
here as the representatives of the vast interests 
which dominate every industrial life, but as the 
champions of the individual citizen who stands 
helpless in their presence. We speak not for 
those who would pivot the finances of the world 
upon a single metal, supplementing its inade- 
quacy by a paper currency issued by a private 
monopoly at the expense of the people, but for the 
millions who believe in the money of the Con- 
stitution and in the ability of their countrymen 
to legislate for themselves without the previous 
permission of foreign parliaments, potentates or 
princes. 

" We are in very truth the party of the people. 
Our declaration of faith and purpose given to the 
world four years ago has been strengthened by 
the passage of years and is enshrined to-day in 
our hearts and hopes. It marked an epoch in 
political history and symbolized the regeneration 



474 CONVENTION OF 1900 

of the party whose birth was coeval with the 
birth of the Union, whose death that Union can- 
not long survive. It crystallized into an undying 
creed the precepts of our founders — reaffirmed 
the objects of Democratic organization and pro- 
claimed Democracy to be no longer a name, but 
'a great spirit and a living heart.' 

" The close of President Harrison's adminis- 
tration found the country face to face with condi- 
tions of the greatest moment. A deficiency in 
the public revenues through the reckless legisla- 
tion and profligate extravagance of the Fifty-first 
Congress had become apparent in the preceding 
October. A bond issue, prepared in February, 
was postponed as a legacy to the incoming ad- 
ministration. Trade and industry, long stimu- 
lated by unequal tariff laws, were staggering 
toward a crisis. Monetary conditions, disturbed 
and uncertain, threatened early disaster. The 
storm came in June, when the elements, long 
pent-up and long accumulating, burst in fury 
upon the continent. It shook the foundations of 
our commercial fabric, overwhelmed every 
branch of trade and industry, and spread bank- 
ruptcy and desolation everywhere. Its subsid- 
ence was the work of years. The misery and 
ruin it inflicted were fresh in the minds and 
hearts of the people. The country slowly 
emerged from the receding flood, the stricken 
nation struggled to its feet and painfully began 



CONVENTION OF 1900 475 

the work of economic reconstruction, while states- 
men discussed the causes of our calamity. In 
the agony of our suffering they clearly perceived 
and freely acknowledged its primal source — a 
vicious and indefensible monetary system. Men 
differed as to the method of its reformation, not 
as to the necessity for a change. They wrangled 
over the merits of standards, but united in con- 
demning an unsound and artificial financial sys- 
tem, the logical outcome of whose operation was 
inevitable disaster. 

" The line of division between political forces 
became, therefore, sharply defined in 1896 upon 
what was called the money question. That 
question involved, as we then asserted, and as 
we ^now know, every other economic problem. 
It embraced within its wide limitations the issues 
of labor and capital, of combination and compe- 
tition, of production, transportation and distribu- 
tion. It was predicted that the defeat of bimet- 
allism would be followed by the retirement of 
all forms of government currency, by the dedi- 
cation of the power of note issue to the holders 
of the national obligation, the practical consoli- 
dation of all lines of transportation and the con- 
sequent domination of every commercial pursuit 
by a score of colossal monopolies. These pre- 
dictions have in general been verified. 

" Democratic defeat had scarcely been recorded 
when the march of consolidation was resumed. 



476 CONVENTION OF 1900 

Every pursuit that engages the attention of man 
has been exploited, capitalized and appropriated. 
The earth and the waters roundabout it have 
been explored for subjects of monopoly, and 
those who have thundered against unsound 
money have used the printing press and the en- 
graver's art to turn out thousands of millions of 
fictitious values, to whose profit the toilers and 
consumers pay constant tribute. 

" Every avenue is closed to the competitive 
energies of the citizen ; has been listed on the 
stock exchange, and rises and falls with the turn 
of the gambler's card. Consolidations succeed 
consolidations, and as they lessen in number 
they enlarge in the volume of their real and 
fictitious accumulations and their more despotic 
sway over all material and political interests. 
These evils, startling in their magnitude and in- 
evitable in their consequences, must either cul- 
minate in one immense aggregation, all-powerful 
and all-absorbing, to be arrested and dissolved 
by the force of an aroused public opinion finding 
expression at the polls in support of the nomi- 
nees of this convention. 

" The party in power carried the last election 
by and through the support of the influences 
which we criticise. Having purchased the rignt 
to pursue their various objects, the Government 
has been at all times their powerful ally. Hence 
the onward march of organized wealth to absolute 



CONVENTION OF 1900 477 

power and the exaltation of the dollar above the 
rights and the welfare of the multitude. Hence 
the crisis in our commercial affairs, whose issue, 
presented in acute form to the voters of 1900, is 
that of industrial despotism as against the liberty 
of the citizen. 

" Democracy wages no war against wealth. 
Under her beneficent rule its creation and amass- 
ment have ever been among the most worthy 
objects of human effort. The desire for material 
comfort and well-being is the very mainspring 
of progress. The wealth that comes as the re- 
ward of honest industry and thrift commands 
and must receive the encouragement and pro- 
tection of all. But the wealth that comes through 
partnership with the Government, which usurps 
its prerogatives and perverts its agencies, which 
absorbs the resources and blasts the opportuni- 
ties of the individual, crushes competition, levies 
tribute on the producer and corrupts and poisons 
all branches of ofiicial life and reduces the citizen 
to dependence iipon its will, excites our just ap- 
prehensions. Free institutions must languish 
without a communism of wealth. Of&cial integ- 
rity cannot survive its temptations. 

"Against its continued prevalence the con- 
science of the nation must be quickened and 
aroused if its baleful influences are to be de- 
stroyed. Modern monopoly is the offspring of 
the Republican party. It is the genius of organ- 



478 CONVENTION OF 1900 

ized commercialism. It has neither conscience, 
sentiment nor patriotism. It knows neither 
justice nor morality. Its inspiration is greed 
and its purposes accumulation. Corruption is 
its necessary instrument. No public service is 
too high, none too low, to escape its influences. 
Its hand is on the throat and in the pocket of 
every human being in the nation. It sneers at 
the rights of man and defies the sovereignty of 
States. It regulates wages and the prices of life's 
necessities. It divides the territory of the Union 
into commercial provinces, punishes integrity 
and rewards the unscrupulous. 

"It gives or refuses employment at its pleasure. 
It blacklists the workingman and sets him adrift 
to starve in the midst of plenty. It marches its 
battalions of employes to the polls, places its 
chosen ballot in their hands and coerces their 
support for its favorite instrument. It is en- 
throned in the councils of the nation and the 
States, sits upon the bench and makes and ex- 
pounds the law. It gives millions to its political 
proctector to debauch the consciences of freemen 
and receives tenfold return through the legis- 
lation that it dictates. It is marching to despot- 
ism under the canopy of the Republic. It is the 
enemy of Democracy, which has accepted its gage 
of battle. 

" Either the trust or the Government must dis- 
appear. At the demand of the so-called financial 



CONVENTION OF 1900 479 

interests the present Congress lias enacted a new 
currency law. By its terms the Government has 
presented to the national banks $25,000,000, 
giving them control of our circulation, provided 
for the payment in cash of the premium values 
of the greater part of its bonds and created a per- 
petual national debt. It has declared for the 
pajanent of all obligations in gold, stricken from 
its contracts the reserved right of the Government 
to use its own money for the payment of debts 
and delegated to private interests the power to 
supplement all deficiencies in the circulating 
medium by the paper money whose volume they 
shall regulate and which the people are taxed to 
support. The greenback and the treasury note 
are retired, an inert mass of $150,000,000 in gold 
is to be kept in the treasury by the issue of bonds 
whenever necessary, the currency must shrink 
and swell as th'e judgment of selfishness shall 
dictate, and the pretended menace of bimetallism 
against ' sound money ' and the national honor 
has been evaded. 

"This law, commended by the money changer 
and the holder of idle capital seeking investment 
where taxation can be avoided, is the culmination 
of a series of enactments beginning with the 
measure of 1869 to strengthen the public credit, 
by which the financial affairs of the Union have 
been placed wholly within the control of a select 
few and the burden of debt is constantly increased 



480 CONVENTION OF 1900 

by the sacrifice of property values. It is the 
logical sequence of that sinister influence which 
has from time to time introduced changes in the 
public obligation whereby every covenant in the 
public interest has disappeared. It contains 
within itself a Pandora's box of evils which time 
will surely open. Those who now applaud will 
live to curse it; its beneficiaries will repudiate it 
when the wrath of an outraged people shall be 
aroused by the experiences of its operation. The 
skies are smiling now and the hills are green, 
but the storm-cloud already gathers over those 
who have bartered the dearest interests of the 
people to the organized greed of a power whose 
avarice cannot be satisfied with the universe. 

"Against this iniquitous scheme of finance 
Democracy protests. We will have no money 
system founded upon the public debt and dic- 
tated by those who hold it. We stand for the 
gold and silver of the Constitution. For a paper 
currency founded upon them and issued by the 
Government as the embodiment of our sover- 
eignty. We would not tax the people for the 
maintenance of a private money system. We 
would pay and not perpetuate our public debt. 
We will dig our metals from the hills and open 
our mints to their coinage. We will pay no 
tribute to Caesar for that which is our own. We 
will scourge the money changers from the 
temple of our treasury and reconsecrate it to the 
service and welfare of the common people. 



CONVENTION OF 1900 48 1 

" Those who assert that the money question is 
dead have given but little heed to the lessons of 
experience. It can never die until it shall 
receive a righteous solution. If it be true that 
our monetary circulation is the life-blood of our 
commercial system, it must follow that upon its 
wholesome quantity depends our continued wel- 
fare. Nostrums administered in time of stress 
may postpone but cannot defeat the demand for 
complete and thorough renovation of a vicious 
and destructive policy. The Democratic party 
will accept nothing short of this. No substitute 
for the bimetallic principle upon which substan- 
tial and enduring prosperity must depend. 
Through all vicissitudes of political life the 
needle of its compass points to that as the mag- 
netic star of sound national policy. 

" The phenomenal increase in the annual out- 
put of gold has materially added to the general 
stock of primary money and relieves some part 
of the stress of contraction which succeeded the 
closure of the Indian mints to silver in 1894. 
The consequent improvement in business and 
industrial conditions may be traced directly to 
this fact, although the failure of crops in various 
portions of the world and the waging of a great 
offensive war with its accompanying expenditure 
of treasure have contributed to the general 
result. The enlargement of the sum of our 
metallic money has cheapened its value, stimu- 



482 CONVENTION OF 1900 

lated prices and set the wheels of enterprise 
again in motion. 

" No more signal demonstration of the bi- 
metallist contention was ever witnessed. Had 
the concurrent coinage and circulation of the two 
metals been uninterrupted they would have kept 
J the quantity of our money of redemption in har- 
'mony with our national growth and our develop- 
ment apace with the increase of wealth and popu- 
lation. The terrible crises of the past quarter 
of a century, with their attendant miseries and 
bankruptcy, would have been avoided and pros- 
perity would have remained with us unbroken 
and enduring. The false plea of 1896, that the 
monetary volume was sufficient and the world 
supply of gold ample for its needs, is now trans- 
parent. Its error is admitted in the boast of our 
opponents that they have increased our per 
capita circulation. The vast quantities yielded 
by the mines are rudely absorbed by the cease- 
less demand for its use, and its multiplied 
increase is earnestly hoped for. No voice is 
raised against its continued production. No fear 
is expressed that we can be embarrassed by its 
abundance, yet its annual output exceeds that of 
gold and silver in the years when the latter was 
repudiated because of its threatened inundation. 
Our opponents stand confounded by the irresist- 
ible operation of a law they have denied. In- 
dustry breathes with more content because there 



CONVENTION OF 1900 483 

is more money for her purposes, and her votaries 
in the presence of its operation unite with De- 
mocracy in proclaiming the great truth that civ- 
ilization gains and humanity advances with 
every addition to the world's stock of gold and 
silver, that each is the handmaid of the other, 
and both essential to the constant and harmoni- 
ous progress and development of the world. 

" If the enormous gold yield of the past five 
years were indefinitely prolonged and the arcs 
of the gold standard were not extended, the needs 
of bimetallism would be relatively inconsequent. 
But the production of gold and silver oscillates, 
one or the other always preponderating. The 
pendulum will again swing to the other extreme. 
Bimetallism knowing this, knows also that the 
crisis returns if man shall reject the offering 
nature presents for our continued prosperity. 
Looking backward over the past and forward to 
the coming years, we ask this great nation to 
provide against recurrence of disaster by adher- 
ing to the system of finance which the fathers 
crystallized in the Constitution, and base its 
future policy on more secure foundation. 

" The prevailing sentiment of Democratic 
sympathy for all people struggling for the bless- 
ings of liberty compelled the administration two 
years ago to interfere with the despotic tyranny 
of Spain over Cuba and secured to the oppressed 
people of that island the right of self-govern- 



484 CONVENTION OF 1900 

ment. Our ultimatum delivered, we solemnly 
and officially declared them to be free and inde- 
pendent and disclaimed to the world any disposi- 
tion or intention to exercise sovereignty, juris- 
diction or control over the island, except for the 
pacification thereof, and asserted our determina- 
,tion when that was accomplished to leave the 
government and control of the island to its 
people. 

" The conditions of the ensuing war sent Ad- 
miral Dewey to the distant Philippines, where 
another people engaged in the same struggle 
with the same oppressor, appealed to the same 
impulses of our nature. There he broke the 
power of Spain, which, suing for peace, submitted 
to the liberation of Cuba and the cession of 
Porto Rico. Our Government disdained the 
spirit of its manifesto of April and became the 
purchaser of the Philippines in January. Since 
then we have given Cuba the benefit of our civic 
institutions by governing her through the War 
Department. We have kept faith with Porto 
Rico by substituting the sugar baron for the 
Castillian duke, and confirmed the Philippine 
estimate of the white man by prolonging the 
Spaniards' method of colonial government in 
those islands of the far-off seas. 

" The national sympathy for all who seek self- 
government has been made the instrument by 
which cupidity and greed hold a feeble nation in 



CONVENTION OF 1900 4S5 

the tliralldom. The right of purchase is invoked 
to justify the adoption of a so-called colonial 
policy by the great western Republic, and her 
glorious institutions are declared to be for home 
consumption, with prohibitive duties against 
their exportation. The Constitution is bounded 
by the domain of the forty-five States and the 
Congress it created has absolute jurisdiction over 
all that lies beyond them. The bill of rights 
has become a bill of platitudes, the military gov- 
ernments centralized in the War Department are 
the agencies of benevolent assimilation wherever 
the flag floats beyond the confines of the ocean. 
Imperialism has become a favorite word in the 
national vocabulary. Destiny is the name of its 
fateful brother. Trade expansion is the mystic 
verbal tie that binds them. All are paraded as 
the cause or the excuse for every sin against the 
organic law of our fathers, while clamorous 
appeals to a so-called patriotism drown the 
solemn warnings of sages and of statesmen 
against the certain tendencies of the new dispen- 
sation. The salve of unavoidable necessity is 
applied to the national conscience, while its criti- 
cisms are stilled by the incantations of trade 
statistics compiled in the interests of monopolies 
which pursue their pathway of constant accumu- 
lation through all the vicissitudes of the eventful 
years, unmindful of the decay of our institu- 
tions and unperturbed by the ebb and flow of the 



486 CONVENTION OF 1900 

siirgiug tides of public opinion that soon shall 
overwhelm all who have used the machinery of 
the Republic for the extinction of a common- 
wealth. 

" We have cheerfully submitted to a burden- 
some taxation that Cuba might be free ; that 
Porto Rico might enjoy the heritage of our Con- 
stitution. We have consecrated our sons to the 
cause of liberty, and sent them freely forth to 
extinguish the last vestige of despotism in our 
hemisphere. We protest against payment of 
tribute or the devotion of life to the cause of 
empire. 

'' We will emulate monarchy neither in con- 
quest nor in government. We would perpetuate 
the Monroe doctrine and realize with Jefferson 
that its first and fundamental maxim is never to 
entangle ourselves in the broils of the Old 
World. We need not despoil the helpless that 
we may trade with them. We realize that a 
standing army is the attendant of imperialism. 
We would avoid the latter, because once avowed 
as a national policy it must undermine our 
domestic institutions. We would avoid it 
because its adoption must lead to other wars and 
other conquests, to the shedding of innocent 
blood, to burdensome taxation, to a hopeless 
national debt, to forcible annexation of other 
lands, to constant entauglements with the affairs 
of other nations — in short, to all the evils fore- 



CONVENTION OF 1900 487 

seen by the Father of his Country and depicted in 
that immortal address whose earnest warnings 
are forgotten or disregarded by our rulers. 

" We would have no colonial system. Its pes- 
tilent brood has already hatched in the Havana 
postoffice, and has grown apace for mouths in 
distant Manila. It is the fruitful mother of 
oppression and maladministration. It has no 
place in the domain of a republic. It cannot live 
in the atmosphere of freedom. It is an asylum 
of dishonesty and incompetency. It broods 
fraud, wrong and scandal. It makes a tyrant of 
the ruler, a rebel of the ruled. It deceives and 
beguiles the home government. It robs and 
plunders the subject people. It is an instru- 
ment of despotism, and the antagonist of democ- 
racy. It requires, for its successful operation, a 
permanent military establishment. Our national 
standard has a stripe for every State that forms 
the Union, a star for every commonwealth of the 
sisterhood. It has neither place nor emblem for 
subject peoples or colonial systems. 

" We believe in that expansion which, under 
Democratic rule, brought half the continent as a 
galaxy of commonwealths into the Union. We 
denounce that expansion which by contract over- 
comes the people of a hemisphere under the pre- 
text of giving them liberty, which governs them 
by force, which denies to them the rights of 
citizens, which subjects the American workman 



48S CONVENTION OF 1900 

to the competition of hordes of Orientals from 
the so-called American provinces to take his place 
at the forge, in the field and in the factory. 

"The stretch of thirty-three peaceful years, 
from the close of the rebellion to the opening of 
the war for Cuban independence, has wrought no 
change in the valor or self-denial of the American 
soldier. Inspired by the loftiest patriotism, the 
highest devotion to country, he has again testi- 
fied his readiness and ability to wage her battles 
and win her victories. On land and sea, under 
burning tropic suns, he is the same invincible 
fighter whose fathers at Yorktown, at New 
Orleans, at San Jacinto and at Gettj'sburg estab- 
lished, maintained and perpetuated the Republic. 
To them, all of them, soldier and sailor, the 
nation's gratitude extends. Its debts should be 
requited to their widows and their orphans, to 
those stricken by bullet and pestilence, to the 
helpless and the serving. To care for the men 
who stand and for the loved ones of those who 
fall in conflict for the nation is the most sacred 
of our obligations, and it shall be our constant 
care to enforce its just and full observance. 

" The sentiment which animates the American 
volunteer and makes him first among soldiers 
finds its inspiration in popular government, in 
the identification of the citizen with the Republic. 
The same spirit impels American sympathy, 
wherever democracy battles for existence or 



CONVENTION OF 1900 489 

Struggles for establishment. Wherever freedom 
makes a stand or liberty utters protest they fiud 
response in the hearts and hope of our people. 
Love of independence is confined to no land or 
latitude. In sunny France, in the South Amer- 
ican republics, on the boundless veldts of South 
Africa, it has given strength to arms that fight 
and courage to hearts that beat for home and 
liberty. It has been baptized in the best blood 
of martyred heroes everywhere. Baffled oft, it 
never dies, and we who have for a century bathed 
in the sunlight of its blessed presence pay in- 
stinctive homage to its defenders in other climes. 
May the day never come when a free people, 
struggling against the dismemberment or de- 
struction of their country, shall look in vain 
for sympathy and consolation to us as their 
exemplars. 

" We would build the Nicaragua Canal as an 
American enterprise for the American people. 
We would operate it in times of peace and control 
it in times of war. We would fortify it, notwith- 
standing the protests or the objections of trans- 
Atlantic powers. We would share the benefits 
and responsibilities of its management with no 
associates. We would concede its advantages in 
times of peace to other nations under terms and 
conditions of our own prescription and deny to 
them and to all of them any other identification 
with its affairs. 



490 CONVENTION OF 1900 

" We would form political alliances with no 
countries whatever. We neither need nor desire 
them. For a century and a quarter we have 
survived the envies and the enmities of Europe. 
We have flourished notwithstanding the civil 
and foreign conflicts of that eventful period. 
When we were weak, confronted with the embar- 
rassments of distracting international dissen- 
sions, with a government of ill-defined authority, 
with undeveloped resources and a sparse popula- 
tion, our friendship was never solicited, our 
strength despised. To-day we are courted by 
the nations which would utilize our strength and 
profit by our association. We are reminded of 
the difference between blood and water, of the 
identity of mere speech and origin, of the tre- 
mendous advantages that must accrue to us 
through an alliance with kin beyond the sea. 
We are told that the growing needs of commerce, 
the expansive force of trade, identity of interests 
and institutions, the bond of a common destiny, 
demand a better understanding with the mother- 
land. These and other considerations continu- 
ally suggested and favorably received justify our 
protest against any bond of international union. 
It is as true now as ever that 'it is folly in one 
nation to look for disinterested favors from 
another, that it must pay with a portion of its 
independence for whatever it may accept under 
that character. There can be no greater error 



CONVENTION OF 1900 491 

than to expect or calculate upon real favors from 
nation to nation. It is an illusion which ex- 
perience must cure, which a just pride ought to 
discard.' 

" We would relieve the people of the burden 
of taxation. If administrative authority is to be 
credited, the Spanish-American conflict ended 
eight months ago. The same authority assures 
us with every moon that the Philippine insur- 
rection is over. The treasury is bursting with a 
plethoric revenue, millions whereof are deposited 
with favorite banks, which lend it to the people 
on their own terms, that the volume of circulation 
may not suffer diminution. Notwithstanding 
these conditions, there is no surcease of taxation. 
Measures cunningly devised to fall upon the 
backs of the people and screen large interests 
from responsibility for the public burdens, will- 
ingly assumed and cheerfull}^ borne in the heat of 
conflict, press with full weight in times of peace, 
with no signs of relief from the party in power. 
Unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation, and 
unjust taxation, by whatever name it may be 
called, is the plunder of the citizen by his 
government. 

"We would investigate the public expendi- 
tures and demand an accounting for the millions 
that have been lavished in the purchase of naval 
stores and war munitions, in supplies, equip- 
ment and transportation. We would inquire 



492 CONVENTION OF 1900 

into the conduct of the war, stamp out favoritism 
in high places and reward the real heroes of the 
conflict. We would ascertain and fix the respon- 
sibility for the terrible mortality of our military 
camp, for the inef&ciency of bureaucrats and 
their subordinates and for the needless sacrifice 
of thousands of our soldiers to the cupidity of 
contractors and the inefiiciency of appointees. 

" We would have for our chief magistrate a 
man sprung from the loins of the people, rock- 
ribbed in his convictions and controlled by the 
admonitions of his conscience. A man of lofty 
ideals and steadfast courage. A man to whom 
his country's Constitution appears as a living 
and sacred reality. A man who exalts the 
duties, the rights and the welfare of his fellow- 
citizens above the sinister and corroding influ- 
ences of centralized commercialism. A man 
whose ear is untuned to the pulsations of the 
pocketbook, but responsive to the heart-throb of 
the masses. A man with no Warwick behind 
his chair, with policies that are his own. A man 
with strong opinions and a strong will to enforce 
them. A man conscious of his country's dignity 
and power, of its capacity to cope with all condi- 
tions. A man who measures the greatness of 
the Republic by the protection it gives to the 
humblest citizen. A man whose clear vision 
perceives the causes and whose steady judgment 
determines the remedy for the public ills. A 



CONVENTION OF 1900 493 

man who will lay a strong hand of authority 
upon the vast interests dominating the moral, 
industrial and political life of the nation and 
maintain the integrity of our institutions against 
all their designs and encroachments. A man 
who recognizes no dignity greater than that of 
an American citizen, no right more sacred than 
that which secures to him the full enjoyment of 
every opportunity that a land like ours affords. 
A man whose opinions do not change with his 
apparel, whose policies are not fashioned from 
day to day by extraneous influences, whose 
'plain duty' consists not in sanctioning the 
repudiation of his own counsels. 

" We want a man of nonplastic mold, conform- 
ing his opinions to passing impressions of popu- 
lar sentiment, as facile in their abandonment as 
in their advocacy. We want a man to whom 
right is greater than expediency, who postpones 
no duty to the demand of privilege, who is loved 
by the multitude, respected by the world and 
feared only by those who distrust the people. 

"The Republican party boasts of almost un- 
broken rule for nearly forty years. Its mission 
was to defeat the extension of slavery and 
destroy that institution. It appealed to the 
moral forces of the Republic and founded its 
organization upon the principles of the Declara- 
tion of Independence. It was triumphant. A 
great war waged under its administration effaced 



494 CONVENTION OF 1900 

slavery from the laud and forever determined 
the integrity of the Union. Since then it has 
undergone complete and marvelous change. It 
once declared its opposition to ' all combinations 
of capital.' It has become the exponent and 
defender of capital in all its forms, the protector 
of every political evil that has arisen since the 
war to assail or menace the welfare of the citizen. 
The emancipator of the negro, it has fostered 
those commercial conditions which are fast estab- 
lishing a system of industrial slavery. Once 
solemnly declaring ' the maintenance of the 
principles of the Declaration of Independence 
and embodied in the Federal Constitution to be 
essential to the preservation of our republican 
institutions,' it now maintains the right to gov- 
ern subject peoples by the sword. 

" Once declaring the people by tradition and 
interest to favor bimetallism and ' condemning 
the policy of the Democratic administration in 
its efforts to demonetize silver,' it now renounces 
this ancient doctrine and claims credit for its 
complete destruction. More recently declaring 
for Cuban independence, it scarcely disguises its 
present purpose to absorb that island. There 
was a time when it put its trust in the people. 
Since then it has put the people in its trusts. 
There was a time when its standards were lofty 
and ennobling. Its only standard now is Stand- 
ard Oil. There was a time when its ideals shone 



CONVENTION OF 1900 495 

forth like precious gems through the dust aud 
heat of party strife. Its ideals now are the party 
machine and the party campaign fund. Its 
battle cry years ago was * Freedom and the Union.' 
If due credit be given to one of its modern leaders, 
its motto for 1900 is 'Gold and glory.' 

"It is a far cry from the ringing tocsin of 
i860 to the buccaneer refrain of 1900, yet it well 
typifies the shameful transfiguration. If to its 
alliterative attraction we add monopoly and mili- 
tarism with trusts and taxation, and place the 
dollar mark above them on its waving banners, 
the world will gaze upon the composite picture 
of its last official declaration. 

" Against the continuance of this party in 
power we enter protest. With the man exalted 
above the dollar, the Constitution against the 
combination, the equality of all before the law, 
with solemn promises to correct the abuses of 
administration and to enforce those fundamentals 
of government which secure exact justice to all, 
we shall not appeal in vain to the wisdom, the 
intelligence and the patriotism of the American 
people." 

Charles A. Walsh of Iowa then rose and read 
a resolution, offered by Daniel J. Campau of 
Michigan, that the Declaration of Independence 
be read to the Convention on this the anniver- 
sary of the nation's natal day. With cheers and 
applause the resolution was adopted, while the 



496 CONVENTION OF 1900 

band in the south gallery played patriotic airs in 
lead of the enthusiasm. 

When the applause had subsided Charles S. 
Hampton of Petoskey, Mich., read, in magnifi- 
cent voice, the immortal document. As the full 
and rounded sentences of the great state paper 
rolled through the hall the cheering and enthu- 
siasm increased, and when Mr. Hampton had 
concluded the tremendous applause fairly shook 
the building. 

When the orator had finished the Declaration 
of Independence and the applause had ceased, 
Miss Fulton of New York was introduced and 
sang the " Star-Spangled Banner," the audience 
standing and cheering and applauding after each 
verse. Then, as she finished the last strain, the 
band took up "America." 

The call of States was then begun to name the 
members of the various committees. This done, 
the Convention adjourned until 4 o'clock. 

When that hour arrived the committees were 
not ready to report, and an adjournment was 
taken until 8:30. 

At 8:30 Chairman Thomas rapped the Con- 
vention to order, although considerably less than 
two-thirds of the delegates had arrived. Pend- 
ing the reports of the committees, the Conven- 
tion was addressed by ex-Governor Altgeld of 
Illinois. Next followed the reports of the com- 
mittees on rules and order of business, on ere- 



CONVENTION OF 1900 497 

dentials, and on permanent organization. The 
latter committee reported John D. Richardson of 
Tennessee for Permanent Chairman, who, on 
taking the chair, spoke as follows : 

"I am deeply sensible of the great honor you 
have bestowed upon me in calling me to preside 
over this great Democratic Convention. We 
have been clothed with the authority to name 
formally the candidates who at the next election 
are to be chosen President and Vice-President of 
the United States, and to lay down a platform of 
principles upon which the battle is to be fought 
and the victory won. With your permission I 
will address myself to some of the issues of the 
impending campaign. 

" The last great national contest for supremacy 
was fought mainly upon one issue — that is to 
say, one issue was paramount in the struggle. 
That issue was familiarly called '16 to i.' It 
involved the question of the free coinage of gold 
and silver at a ratio of sixteen parts of silver to 
one part of gold, with which all of us are 
familiar. 

"The momentous issue this year is again 16 
to I, but the sixteen parts to the one part of this 
campaign, which I will briefly discuss, are wholly 
different from those of 1896. I will refer first 
to the sixteen parts and then to the one part. 
These sixteen parts are : 

" I. We have the issue fraught with indcscrib- 



498 CONVENTION OF 1900 

able importance to our people, native born, and 
those who, for patriotic reasons, have cast their 
fortunes with us, namely — that of the Republic 
against the empire. On this part alone of the 
sixteen, if there were no other, we confidently 
expect to win a sweeping victory in November. 
The Republican party stands for empire. The 
Democratic party stands for the Republic, for 
the Declaration of Independence and the Con- 
stitution of our country. 

*' 2. The paternal and fostering care given by 
those with whom we contend to the combinations 
of corporations and companies into powerful or- 
ganizations familiarly known as trusts. Under 
three years of Republican rule, while they 
controlled the Presidency, the Senate and the 
House of Representatives — that is, all of the 
law-making power of the Government — trusts 
have been propagated and fostered by legislation 
until they not only dominate all markets, both 
the buying and selling, but defy the very power 
of the Government itself 

" The farcical efforts put forth by the Re- 
publican party in an alleged attempt to restrain 
them in the dying hours of the late session of 
Congress only excited ridicule and contempt, 
and served to emphasize their inability and dis- 
inclination to grapple the monsters and regulate 
their conduct and actions. No matter what their 
excuses may be, the fact is their policies have 



499 CONVENTION OF 1900 

created tliem, and, though clothed with all power 
they refuse to enact legislation to control them 

*' 3. Called to power March 4, 1897, binder a 
pledge to reform the currency, the Republicans 
seized the first opportunity to fasten upon the 
land the highest protective tariff law ever put 
upon the statute books of any country. 

" This law was enacted not to raise revenue, 
but to give protection to favored manufacturers! 
It failed to raise sufficient revenue for the Gov- 
ernment, but answered the purpose of enriching 
the favored few, while it robbed the many, and 
at the same time brought forth trusts to plague 
us as numerous as the lice and locusts of Egypt. 
Their high protective tariff is the mother of 
trusts. 

" 4. This administration came into power with 
a solemn declaration in favor of bimetallism and 
a pledge to promote it. It has failed to keep 
that pledge. It has erected in its stead the 
single standard of gold and has endeavored to 
destroy all hope of bimetallism. In doing this 
it has built up a powerful national bank trust 
and has given us a currency based upon the 
debts and liabilities of the Government. We 
stand for bimetallism and not for a monometallic 
standard of either one or the other metal. 

"5. The dominant party recently has made 
the fraudulent declaration that it favored the 
Monroe doctrine, and 3'et its President and Sec- 



IWJIiMMtWIIIwrMMMWt^MMMWWi 



500 CONVENTION OF 1900 

retary of State have doue all iu tlieir power to 
nullify and abrogate that famous and much- 
revered Democratic doctrine. 

" In the name of its Democratic author, James 
Monroe, I denounce their vaunted advocacy of 
this truly American doctrine as false and hypo- 
critical. We stand for this doctrine in its 
essence and form and demand its rigid enforce- 
ment. 

"6. In order to obtain place and power the 
Republicans pledged themselves, in the interest 
of an expanding commerce, to construct a water- 
way to connect the two great oceans. They have 
repudiated this commerce. They have negoti- 
ated the Hay-Pauncefote treaty, which, while it 
virtually abrogates the Monroe doctrine, renders 
it impossible to build an American canal. Under 
the terms and provisions of this treaty, which is 
English and not American, the canal can never 
be constructed. We stand for an American 
canal, owned, constructed, operated and fortified 
by America. 

"7. The Republicans declared in their plat- 
form that their party was responsible for the 
merit system, that it was their creature and that 
the civil service law should be protected and its 
operation extended. 

"Their protection of this law has been such 
as the wolf gives the lamb. They did not dare 
openly repeal the law or to modify it by an act 



CONVENTION OF 1900 501 

of Congress, but insidiously by an order from 
the President, extorted from him to aid them to 
obtain and hold political power. They have 
greatly impaired the efficiency of the law. 

" By the President's order many thousand 
lucrative offices regularly covered by the civil 
service law were taken from under its protec- 
tion, and these places turned over to his partisan 
followers in a vain effort to satisfy their political 
greed. 

" 8. They declared in their platform in favor of 
the admission of the Territories of Arizona, New 
Mexico and Oklahoma as States of the Union, 
yet after nearly four years of full power they are 
still Territories. Under the wicked rule of law 
as now applied by the Republican party to some 
of our Territories, they may at an early date 
find erected between themselves and the balance 
of the Union a tariff wall which will serve to 
pauperize them while it enriches others. 

" 9. When Congress last assembled the Presi- 
dent, in his first utterance addressed to the 
representatives fresh from the people, solemnly 
urged upon them that it was their plain duty to 
give free trade to Porto Rico. His party leaders, 
quick to obey his injunction, made ready to com- 
ply with his recommendations. 

" But in a night, almost in the twinkling of au 
eye, the mighty magnates of the trusts swept 
down upon Washington, interposed their strong 



502 CONVENTION OF 1900 

arm and plain duty vanished like mist before the 
rising sun. 

" The President wheeled into line, the Repub- 
lican party reversed its policy and set up a tariff 
wall between the Island of Porto Rico and the 
remainder of the United States. It is not at all 
surprising that in the recent somewhat lengthy 
declaration of principles enunciated by the party 
in convention assembled, while they enlarged 
upon almost every political question, they could 
not find the space to point with pride to the 
achievements of their party in its dealings with 
that unhappy island. 

" The Democratic party stands for equal taxa- 
tion, equal rights and opportunities to all who 
come under the folds of the flag. 

" 10. The Republicans wholly failed to tell the 
country what their policy is in respect to the 
Philippine Islands. For two years by their 
equivocating policy and no policy at all they 
have continued in that archipelago a war expen- 
sive in human blood as well as in money. 

"Incompetent to deal with this question and too 
cowardly to avow their real purpose of imperialism 
and militarism in dealing with these and kindred 
colonial questions, they should be retired from 
power and the control should be given to a party 
honest, bold and patriotic enough to apply 
American theories and precepts to existing con- 
ditions, and thereby solve them in harmony with 



CONVENTION OF 1900 503 

the underlying principles of the Declaration of 
Independence and the Constitution of our 
country. 

"11. Another part of the issue of the cam- 
paign this year is the scandalous dealings of a 
high cabinet o£&cer with private banks of the 
country. These scandals are notorious, and are 
based upon the earnest and repeated written 
demands of the officers of some of these banks 
that they should be favored by this administra- 
tion because of money contributed by them with 
which to buy the Presidency of 1896. 

" Correspondence submitted to Congress shows 
that, in one case at least, an appeal from an in- 
stitution in New York City to the Secretary of the 
Treasury for financial assistance because, it was 
claimed, the officers of that bank had contributed 
liberally to the election of the present Chief 
Executive, was not made in vain, and the asked- 
for assistance in this case from the Government 
was freely, if not corruptly, given. 

"The scandals which surrounded the War 
Department in feeding embalmed beef to the 
soldiers, in its purchases of old yachts, tugs, 
ocean liners, ocean tramps, barges and scows for 
use as army transports, constitute an important 
chapter. 

'' So also the scandals in connection with the 
postoffice matters in Cuba and the scandals in 
connection with the expenditure of the funds of 



504 CONVENTION OF 1900 

the Paris Exposition. Time will not permit an 
amplification of all these scandals. 

" 14. The Republicans loudly proclaim that 
theirs is the party of liberty, and in their vain- 
glory boast of their very name — Republican plat- 
form—yet they are caught coquetting and form- 
ing secret entangling alliances of the most 
detestable character with the old mother mon- 
archy. 

" They stand supinely by and refuse even an 
expression of sympathy with the Boer republics 
in their heroic and unequal struggle for existence 
as against the gross oppressions and brutal 
efforts at enslavement of the same old tyrant 
who went down in defeat when he sought to 
prevent the establishment of our own liberty- 
loving R.epublic. 

"They thus permit a brave people in love 
with their free republican institutions to perish 
from the earth lest by one word of sympathy and 
comfort they might offend the delicate sensibili- 
ties of their new-found ally — Great Britain. 

" 15. An important chapter is the oft-repeated 
promise, made to be broken, that when the war 
ceased the oppressive, burdensome and vexatious 
war taxes on many articles of prime necessity 
should be repealed or reduced. Though the war 
closed two years ago, and notwithstanding there 
is a large and growing surplus in the treasury, 
not one dollar of reduction in these taxes has 
been made. 



CONVENTION OF 1900 505 

" It is known that delegation after delegation 
from the people, together with those who con- 
stitute the minority of Congress, joined in that 
appeal and declared our readiness to support any 
and all measures that might in some degree 
remove these burdens of taxation. But a deaf 
ear was turned by the Republicans to all such 
efforts for relief and none came. 

"It is well known also that no relief will be 
given by the party in power, and it is vain for 
overburdened people to look to them wliile 
present policies are attempted to be enforced. 
The only hope for relief lies in hurling from 
power the Republican party and the restoration 
of the party which believes in simple and eco- 
nomical government. 

" 16. And lastly. The cost of Republicanism 
and its twin monster, imperialism. This is 
neither the time nor the occasion to discuss in 
detail the increased appropriation made neces- 
sary by the Republican policy of imperialism. 
Briefly, however, I will mention that the average 
of appropriations per year for all purposes of 
government for the two years immediately pre- 
ceding the Spanish-x^merican war was about 
$475,000,000. 

" The average expenditures per annum (ov 
each of the three years since that war, including 
the fiscal year upon which we have just entered, 
shows an increase of nearly $300,000,000. The 



5o6 CONVENTION OF 1900 

total increase for the three years will be nearly 
$900,000,000. And in like proportion it will 
go on. 

"This shows the difference in cost of the 
empire as against the Republic. These figures 
refer alone to the money cost of the change, and 
do not include the expenses of the blood of the 
American boys, the price of which is far beyond 
computation. In the Republican Congress just 
closed not one dollar could be had for much- 
needed public buildings throughout the country 
at home, but many millions were promptly voted 
to prosecute a war in the far-away Philippine 
Islands. 

" Not a dollar for necessary improvements of 
our rivers and harbors at home, but millions to 
be stolen and squandered in Cuba and our new 
insular possessions. Nothing for Isthmian Canal 
and many other enterprises and objects, but more 
than $200,000,000 were freely given for the army 
and navy, for imperialism and militarism, for 
gold and glory. 

" I said at the outset the issue this year was 
again 16 to i. The foregoing are briefly the 
sixteen parts of the issue. What is the one 
part? 

" We have seen that platform pledges are 
made and broken. That good intentions of men 
are many times set at naught. That plain duty 
clearly set forth and understood is disregarded. 



CONVENTION OF 1900 507 

That some men are weak and vacillating and 
may change their solemn opinions in a day. It 
is apparent, therefore, to all that in this supreme 
exigency of the Republic a demand goes forth 
not for a faint-hearted declaration of platform 
platitudes, but for a man. 

" Yes, a man who stands like a mighty rock 
in the desert ; a man who, knov/ing the right, 
will dare do the right; a man who, 'rather than 
follow a multitude to do evil, will stand like 
Pompey's pillar, conspicuous by himself and 
single in integrit}-.' 

" Such a man is the one part this Convention 
will tender to the nation as their candidate for 
President. A man who is unsurpassed as a citi- 
zen, unequaled as an orator, courageous as a 
soMier, conspicuous in every element that con- 
stitutes the typical and the true American, 
William J. Bryan of Nebraska." 

The mention of the name of Bryan created 
tumultuous enthusiasm, and it was half an hour 
before order could be restored sufficiently to 
adjourn the Convention. The committee on 
platform not being ready to report, the Conven- 
tion adjourned at 10:30 to meet at the same hour 
the next morning. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM OF 1900. 

The second day of the Convention was opened 
with prayer by the Rt. Rev. John J. Glenniu. 
The business of the day was to be the report of 
the committee on platform and the nomination 
of Mr. Bryan for the Presidency. 

The committee on platform was not ready 
to report. The committee worked behind closed 
doors, but it was rumored that there was a 
division on the question of free coinage of silver 
in the ratio of 16 to i; also as to the relative 
position and importance that the imperialism and 
free coinage planks should have in the platform. 
Rumors were also afloat that the committee 
would return a majority and a minority report, 
and leave the question to be settled on the floor 
of the Convention. 

The previous counsel of Mr. Bryan prevailed, 
and at 4 o'clock in the afternoon the committee 
unanimously reported, and the Convention like- 
wise adopted, the following platform, which, for 
strength and clearness of statement, has never 

been excelled by a national platform. 
508 



PLATFORM OF 



[900 509 



DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL PLATFORM. 

" We, the representatives of the Democratic 
party of the United States, assembled in National 
Convention on the anniversary of the adoption of 
the Declaration of Independence, do reaffirm our 
faith in that immortal proclamation of the in- 
alienable rights of men and our allegiance to the 
Constitution framed in harmony therewith by 
the fathers of the Republic. We hold with the 
United States Supreme Court that the Declara- 
tion of Independence is the spirit of our Govern- 
ment, of which the Constitution is the form and 
letter. 

" We declare again that all governments insti- 
tuted among men derive their j ust powers from 
the consent of the governed ; that any govern- 
ment not based upon the consent of the governed 
is a tyranny; and that to impose upon any 
people a government of force is to substitute the 
methods of imperialism for those of a Republic. 
"We hold that the Constitution follows the 
flag and denounce the doctrine that an Executive 
or Congress, deriving their existence and their 
powers from the Constitution, can exercise law- 
ful authority beyond it or in violation of it. We 
assert that no nation can long endure half repub- 
lic and half empire, and we warn the American 
people that imperialism abroad will lead quickly 
and inevitably to despotism at home. 

. "Believing in these fundamental principles, 



'& 



5IO PLATFORM OF 1900 

we denounce the Porto Rico law, enacted by a 
Republican Congress against the protest and 
opposition of the Democratic minority, as a bold 
and open violation of the nation's organic law 
and a flagrant breach of the national good faith. 
It imposes upon the people of Porto Rico a gov- 
ernment without their consent and taxation 
without representation. It dishonors the Amer- 
ican people by repudiating a solemn pledge made 
in their behalf by the Commanding General of 
our army, which the Porto Ricans welcomed to 
a peaceful and unresisted occupation of their 
land. It doomed to poverty and distress a people 
whose helplessness appeals with peculiar force to 
our justice and magnanimity. 

" In this, the first act of its imperialistic pro- 
gramme, the Republican party seeks to commit 
the United States to a colonial policy incon- 
sistent with republican institutions and con- 
demned by the Supreme Court in numerous 
decisions. 

"We demand the prompt and honest fulfill- 
ment of our pledge to the Cuban people and the 
world that the United States has no disposition 
nor intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction 
or control over the Island of Cuba, except for its 
pacification. 

" The war ended nearly two years ago, pro- 
found peace reigns over the island, and still the 
administration keeps the government of the 



PLATFORM OF 1900 51 1 

island from its people, while Republicau carpet- 
bag officials pluuder its revenues and exploit the 
colonial theory to the disgrace of the American 
people. 

"We condemn and denounce the Philippine 
policy oi the present administration. It has 
involved the Republic in unnecessary war, sac- 
rificed the lives of many of our noblest sons, and 
placed the United States, previously known and 
applauded throughout the world as the champion 
of freedom, in the false and un-American posi- 
tion of crushing with military force the efforts 
of our former allies to achieve liberty and self- 
government. 

" The Filipinos cannot be citizens without 
endangering our civilization ; they cannot be 
subjects without imperiling our form of govern- 
ment, and as we are not willing to surrender our 
civilization or to convert the Republic into an 
empire, we favor an immediate declaration of the 
nation's purpose to give to the Filipinos, first, a 
stable form of government ; second, independence ; 
and, third, protection from outside interference, 
such as has been given for nearly a century to 
the republics of Central and South America. 

"The greedy commercialism which dictated 
the Philippine policy of the Republican admin- 
istration attempts to justify it with the plea that 
it will pay, but even this sordid and unworthy 
plea fails when brought to the test of facts. The 



512 PLATFORM OF 1900 

war of crimiual aggression against the Filipinos, 
entailing an annnal expense of many millions, 
has already cost more than any possible profit 
that conld accrue from the entire Philippine 
trade for years to come. Furthermore, when 
trade is extended at the expense of liberty the 
price is always too high. 

" We are not opposed to territorial expansion 
when it takes in desira.ble territory, which can 
be erected into States in the Union, and whose 
people are willing and fit to become American 
citizens. We favor trade expansion by every 
peaceful and legitimate means. But we are 
unalterably opposed to the seizing or purchasing 
of distant islands to be governed outside the 
Constitution, and whose people can never become 
citizens. 

"We are in favor of extending the Republic's 
influence among the nations, but believe that 
influence should be extended, not by force and 
violence, but through the persuasive power of a 
high and honorable example. 

" The importance of other questions now pend- 
ing before the American people is in no wise 
diminished, and the Democratic part}^ takes no 
backward step from its position on them, but the 
burning issue of imperialism growing out of the 
Spanish war involves the very existence of the 
Republic and the destruction of our free institu- 
tions. We regard it as the paramount issue of 
the campaign. 



PLATFORM OF 1900 513 

" The declaration in the Republican platform 
adopted at the Philadelphia Convention, held in 
June, 1900, that the Republican party ' stead- 
fastly adheres to the policy announced in the 
Monroe doctrine,' is manifestly insincere and 
deceptive. This profession is contradicted by 
the avowed policy of that party, in opposition 
to the spirit of the Monroe doctrine, to acquire 
and hold sovereignty over large areas of terri- 
tory and large numbers of people in the eastern 
hemisphere. 

" We insist on the strict maintenance of the 
Monroe doctrine, and in all its integrity, both in 
letter and in spirit, as necessary to prevent the 
extension of European authority on this conti- 
nent, and as essential to our supremacy in Amer- 
ican affairs. At the same time we declare that 
no American people shall ever be held by force 
in unwilling subjection to European authority. 

"We oppose militarism. It means conquest 
abroad and intimidation and oppression at home. 
It means the strong arm which has ever been 
fatal to free institutions. It is what millions of 
our citizens have fled from in Europe. It will 
impose upon our peace-loving people a large 
standing army and unnecessary burden of taxa- 
tion and a constant menace to their liberties. A 
small standing army and a well disciplined State 
militia are amply sufficient in time of peace. 

" This Republic has no place for a vast mili- 



514 PLATFORM OF 1900 

tary service and conscription. When the nation 
is in danger the volunteer soldier is his country's 
best defender. The national guard of the 
United States should ever be cherished in the 
patriotic hearts of a free people. Such organi- 
zations are ever an element of strength and 
safety. For the first time in our history and 
coeval with the Philippine conquest has there 
been a wholesale departure from our time- 
honored and approved system of volunteer organi- 
zation. We denounce it as un-American, un- 
democratic and unrepublican, and as a subver- 
sion of the ancient and fixed principles of a free 
people. 

" Private monopolies are indefensible and intol- 
erable. They destroy competition, control the 
price of all material and of the finished product, 
thus robbiug both producer and consumer. They 
lessen the employment of labor, and arbitrarily 
fix the terms and conditions thereof, and deprive 
individual energy and small capital of their op- 
portunity for betterment. They are the most 
efficient means yet devised for appropriating the 
fruits of industry to the benefit of the few at the 
expense of the many, and unless their insatiate 
greed is checked all wealth will be aggregated in 
a few hands and the Republic destroyed. 

" The dishonest paltering with the trust evil 
by the Republican party in State and national 
platforms is conclusive proof of the truth of the 



PLATFORM OF 



1900 515 



charge that trusts are the legitimate product of 
Republican policies, that they are fostered by 
Republican laws, and that they are protected by 
the Republican administration in return for cam- 
paign subscriptions and political support. 

'' We pledge the Democratic party to an un- 
ceasing warfare in nation, State and city against 
private monopoly in every form. Existing laws 
against trusts must be enforced, and more strin- 
gent ones must be enacted, providing for pub- 
licity as to the affairs of corporations engaged in 
interstate commerce, and requiring all corpora- 
tions to show, before doing business outside«of the 
State of their origin, that they have no water in 
their stock, and that they have not attempted, 
and are not attempting, to monopolize any 
branch of business, or the production of any 
articles of merchandise, and the whole consti- 
tutional power of Congress over interstate com- 
merce, the mails, and all modes of interstate 
communication, shall be exercised by the enact- 
ment of comprehensive laws upon the subject of 
trusts. 

" Tariff laws should be amended by putting 
the products of trusts upon the free list to pre- 
vent monopoly under the plea of protection. 

" The failure of the present Republican admin- 
istration, with an absolute control over all the 
branches of the national government, to enact 
any legislation designed to prevent or even cur- 



5l6 PLATFORM OF 1900 

tail tlie absorbing power of trusts and illegal 
combinations, or to enforce the anti-trust laws 
already ou the statute books, prove the insin- 
cerity of the high-sounding phrases of the Re- 
publican platform. 

" Corporations should be protected in all their 
rights and their legitimate interests should be 
respected, but any attempt by corporations to 
interfere with the public affairs of the people or 
to control the sovereignty which creates them 
should be forbidden under such penalties as v.'ill 
make such attempts impossible. 

" We condemn the Dingley tariff law as a trust- 
breeding measure, skillfully devised to give the 
few favors which they do not deserve and to 
place upon the many burdens which they should 
not bear. 

" We favor such an enlargement of the scope 
of the interstate commerce law as will enable the 
commission to protect individuals and communi- 
ties from discriminations and the public from 
unjust and unfair transportation rates. 

"We reaffirm and indorse the principles of the 
national Democratic platform adopted at Chicago 
in 1896, and we reiterate the demand of that 
platform for an American financial system made 
by the American people for themselves, which 
shall restore and maintain a bimetallic price 
level ; and as part of such system the immediate 
restoration of the free and unlimited coinage of 



PLATFORiM OF 1900 517 

silver and gold at tlie present legal ratio of 16 to 
I without waiting for the aid or consent of any 
other nation. 

"We denounce the currency bill enacted at 
the last session of Congress as a step forward in 
the Republican policy which aims to discredit 
the sovereign right of the national government 
to issue all money, v/hether coin or paper, and 
to bestow upon national banks the power to issue 
and control the volume of paper money for their 
own benefit. 

" A permanent national bank currency, secured 
by government bonds, must have a permanent 
debt to rest upon, and if the bank currency is to 
increase with population and business the debt 
must also increase. The Republican currency 
scheme is, therefore, a scheme for fastening upon 
the taxpayers a perpetual and growing debt for 
the benefit of the banks. We are opposed to 
this private corporation paper circulated as money, 
but without legal tender qualities, and demand 
the retirement of the national bank notes as fast 
as government paper or silver certificates can be 
substituted for them. 

" We favor an amendment to the Federal Con- 
stitution providing for the election of United 
States Senators by direct vote of the people, and 
we favor direct legislation wherever practicable. 

"We are opposed to government by injunc- 
tion. We denounce the black list and fiivor 



5l8 PLATFORM OF 1900 

arbitration as a means of settling disputes 
between corporations and tbeir employes. In 
the interest of American labor and the uplifting 
of the workingman as the corner-stone of the 
prosperity of our country, we recommend that 
Congress create a department of labor in charge 
of a Secretary, with a seat in the cabinet, believ- 
ing that the elevation of the American laborer 
will bring with it increased production and 
increased prosperity to our country at home and 
to our commerce abroad. 

"We are proud of the courage and fidelity of 
the American soldiers and sailors in all our wars. 
We favor liberal pensions to them and their 
dependents, and we reiterate the position taken 
in the Chicago platform in 1896 that the fact of 
enlistment and service shall be deemed conclu- 
sive evidence against disease and disability before 
enlistment. 

" We favor the immediate construction, owner- 
ship and control of the Nicaragua Canal by the 
United States, and we denounce the insincerity 
of the plank in the national Republican platform 
for an Isthmian Canal in face of the failure of 
the Republican majority to pass the bill pending 
in Congress. 

"We condemn the Hay-Pauncefote treaty as 
a surrender of American rights and interests, not 
to be tolerated by the American people. 

" We denounce the failure of the Republican 



PLATFORM OF 1900 



519 



party to carry out its pledges— to grant state- 
hood to the Territories of Arizona, New Mexico 
and Oklahoma — and we promise the people of 
those territories immediate statehood and home 
rule during their condition as territories, and we 
favor home rule and a territorial form of govern- 
ment for Alaska and Porto Rico. 

" We favor an intelligent S3'stem of improving 
the arid lands of the West, storing the waters for 
purposes of irrigation and the holding of such 
lands for actual settlers. 

" We favor the continuance and strict enforce- 
ment of the Chinese exclusion law and its appli- 
cation to the same classes of all Asiatic races. 

"Jefferson said : ' Peace, commerce and hon- 
est friendship with all nations ; entangling alli- 
ances with none.' We approve this wholesome 
doctrine and earnestly protest against the Re- 
publican departure which has involved us in so- 
called politics, including the diplomac}^ of Europe 
and the intrigue and land-grabbing of Asia, and 
we especially condemn the ill-concealed Repub- 
lican alliance with England, which must mean 
discrimination against other friendly nations and 
which has already stifled the nation's voice while 
liberty is being strangled in Africa. 

" Believing in the principles of self-government 
and rejecting, as did our forefathers, the claim of 
monarchy, we view with indignation the purpose 
of England to overwhelm with force the South 



520 PLATFORM OF 1900 

African republics. Speaking, as we do, for the 
entire American nation, except its Republican 
officeholders, and for all free men everywhere, we 
extend our sympathies to the heroic burghers in 
their unequal struggle to maintain their liberty 
and independence. 

" We denounce the lavish appropriations of 
recent Republican Congresses, which have kept 
taxes high and which threaten the perpetuation 
of the oppressive war levies. We oppose the 
accumulation of a surplus to be squandered in 
such bare-faced frauds upon the taxpayers as the 
shipping subsidy bill, which, under the false pre- 
tense of prospering American shipbuilding, would 
put unearned millions into the pockets of favor- 
ite contributors to the Republican campaign fund. 

" We favor the reduction and speedy repeal of 
the war taxes, and a return to the time-honored 
Democratic policy of strict economy in govern- 
mental expenditures. 

" Believing that our most cherished institu- 
tions are in great peril, that the very existence 
of our constitutional Republic is at stake, and 
that the decision now to be rendered will deter- 
mine whether or not our children are to enjoy 
those blessed privileges of free government which 
have made the United States great, prosperous 
and honored, we earnestly ask for the foregoing 
declaration of principles the hearty support of 
the liberty-loving American people regardless of 
previous party affiliations." 



CHAPTER XXV. 

BRYAN NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT. 

Directly after the adoption of the platform in 
the afternoon of July 5, the Democratic National 
Convention proceeded to nominate a candidate 
for President. The proceedings were as minute 
in detail as if it were not already known what 
the result would be. 

"The next business before the Convention is 
the nomination of a candidate for the Presidency 
of the United States. The Secretary will call 
the roll of the States," announced Chairman 
Richardson. 

"Alabama," the Secretary shouted, com- 
mencing the call of the roll. 

" The State of Alabama," said the chairman of 
the delegation of that State, " yields to Nebraska 
the privilege of naming the next President of the 
United States." 

W. D. Oldham of Nebraska, who was to 
present the name of Mr. Bryan to the Conven- 
tion, was waiting by the Chairman's desk, and 
as the chairman of the Alabama delegation 
resumed his seat he came fonvard and expressed 
his appreciation of the favor extended by Ala- 
bama in surrendering its time to the State of 
Mr. Bryan. Mr. Oldham said : 
521 



522 BRYAN NOMINATED 

" More than loo years ago the Continental Con- 
gress of America adopted a declaration which 
had been drafted by the founder of the Demo- 
cratic party, and the joyous tones of the old 
liberty bell which greeted the act announced to 
a waiting world that a nation had been born. 

" With hearts unchilled by the selfish senti- 
ments of cold commercialism, you have responded 
patriotically to each sentiment contained in De- 
mocracy's first platform as it was read to you at 
the opening of this Convention, and in view of 
the radical departure v/hich the party in power 
had made from the principles set forth in that 
historical document, it is meet that we — true 
believers in the Republic of old — should, when 
choosing a field and forming our lines for the 
bloodless battle of ballots now impending, say, 
in the language of one of the loved patriots of 
long ago, ' Read this declaration at the head of 
the army and every sword shall be drawn from 
its scabbard and a solemn vow taken to maintain 
it or to perish on the field of honor,' 

"Much of the history of this Republic shall 
be either made or marred by the action of this 
Convention. You, as representatives of the only 
party which is coexistent with- the nation itself, 
the only party which ever had within its own 
ranks sufficient constructive statesmanship to 
create a nation in which each citizen becomes a 
sovereign, have, true to the traditions you bear, 



BRYAN NOMINATED 523 

in your platform set out in simple language, 
with a decided American accent, a plan for the 
people's redemption from each sacrilege and 
schism taught by the Republican party. The 
plan contains nothing but the approved pre- 
cepts of the elders and doctors of your faith. If 
on a platform you place a candidate whose 
devoted and unblemished life shall stand as a 
pledge to the plain people that he, in good faith, 
will carry out the solemn covenants made therein, 
then the hour of our ultimate triumph is at hand. 
" There is no greater honor reserved for a citi- 
zen of these United States than to become the 
standard bearer of the Democratic party. It at 
once enrolls his name fon the scroll of the 
' immortals who are not born to die,' and encircles 
him with a halo of the glory of all the illustrious 
achievements which that unconquered and un- 
conquerable organization has emblazoned on 
every page of her nation's history. It intrusts 
to his keeping the fame of that long line of 
statesmen and patriots who have knelt for a 
blessing at Democracy's shrine. 

" ' O bright are the names of those heroes and sages 
That shine Hke stars through the dimness of ages, 
Whose deeds are inscribed on the pages of story, 
Forever to live in the sunHght of glory.' 

" This high distinction must not be unworthily 
bestowed. It must follow as a reward for noble 
actions bravely done, for unrequited, tireless toil, 



524 BRYAN NOMINATED 

for sacrifices made and strengtH displayed, for 
trusts discharged and pledges kept. We must 
seek a leader whose public and private life most 
nearly exemplifies his party's highest ideals; 
who stands unqualifiedly pledged to every issue 
we declare; who will carry the standard we 
place in his hands, even as the Black Douglas 
carried the sacred casket that inclosed the heart 
of Bruce. 

"He must not declare for free trade with Porto 
Rico and then at the persuasive suggestion of 
the sugar and tobacco trust sign a bill for a tariff 
on the products of that island. 

" He must not denounce a policy as one of 
' criminal aggression ' and then at the demand of 
a power behind the throne pursue the policy he 
has so denounced. 

" He must not, while professing opposition to 
combines and conspiracies against trade, send his 
emissaries to the trust baron castles to beg, like 
Lazarus at Dives gates, for subscriptions to his 
campaign. He must not lend the moral sup- 
port of his administration to a monarchy in its 
efforts to destroy a republic. But he must ever 
sympathize with a people struggling for the 
right of self-government. 

" Instead of the Republican policy of mono- 
metallism, he must offer the free and unlimited 
coinage of the money metals of the Constitution, 
the gold that polished the winged sandals of 



BRYAN NOMINATED 525 

Hermes and the silver that glitters iu the bow of 
Diana. 

" Instead of a panic-breeding credit currenc}-, 
controlled by the bank trust, he must offer gov- 
ernment paper controlled by the people. 

"He must be able to distinguish between 
Democratic expansion and Republican imperial- 
ism. The first is a natural growth by the addi- 
tion of contiguous American territor}-, into every 
foot of which is carried the Constitution, the flag 
and the decalogue, and over the shoulders of 
every inhabitant of the added territory is thrown 
a purple rftbe of sovereign citizenship. It is a 
growth that has added eighteen States to the 
field of blue in the 'banner of the free' to sym- 
bolize the States that have been carved from 
territory annexed to the domain of this nation 
by the wisdom and statesmanship of the Demo- 
cratic party ; this is an expansion that is bounded 
on the north by the Constitution of the United 
States, on the east by the Monroe doctrine, on 
the south by the Declaration of Independence, 
and on the west by the ten commandments. 

" How different this from the bandit policy of 
the Republican imperialism, with its standing 
army and bayonet rule of conquered provinces; 
its government of sullen subjects against their 
will by force and fraud ; its denial to them of the 
protection of either the Constitution or the com- 
mand which says, 'Thou shalt not steal'— a 



526 BRYAN NOMINATED 

policy that would send our Uncle Sam off his 
American range with cowboy hat, a rope and a 
branding iron to rustle and brand over all the 
loose islands of the Orient, while hypocritically 
chanting the long-meter doxology. 

" Democratic skies are tinged with a rosier 
hue to-day than when we met in Convention four 
years ago. Then a financial cataclysm had 
spread over the country, and although its every 
inducing cause was easily traced to the errors 
and follies of the Republican party, yet we were 
in power when it came and were wrongly held 
responsible for the wreck of shattered fortunes 
which followed in its wake. Torn asunder by 
dissensions within and disasters without, our 
party faced a gloomy and foreboding future 
which seemed to augur dissolution. The prob- 
lem then was to select a standard-bearer bold 
enough to cover the rear of a retreat and save 
the party from destruction, if not from defeat. 

" While discord with her flaming torch con- 
fused the counsels there, from out of the sunset 
realm a champion came and bade defiance to the 
oncoming host. With the strength of youth and 
the wisdom of age, with knightly mien and 
matchless speech he towered above his peers, and 
all who saw him then with one accord did hail 
him 'chief and gave our party's banner to his 
hand. Slowly despair gave way to hope; con- 
fidence took the place where timorous fear had 



BRYAN NOMINATED 



527 



been; the broken, shattered columns formed 
again, and behind him singing came 6,500,000 
valiant men to that unequal fight. 

*' And the story of how well he fought, how 
fearlessly he fell and how dearly the enemy's 
victory was bought, has all gone out into history 
now. 

" Back from his ' first battle ' he came, a baffled 
but unconquered hero of the rights of man. Con- 
scious of the rectitude of his purpose and cheered 
by the belief ' that no issue is ever settled until 
it is settled right,' he cheerfully acquiesced in 
the result of that campaign and girded his loins 
for the next great contest between the dollar and 
the man. 

" For four years he has waged an unceasing 
warfare against the people's enemy — for four 
years he has held up the party's standard and 
his voice has cheered the hosts of Democracy in 
every State and Territory. When the trusts 
began to increase under the protection of a Re- 
publican administration he was the first to point 
out the danger and prescribe a remedy. 

"When the alarms of a war for humanity 
roused the heroic spirit of our land, he offered 
his sword to his country's cause on the day that 
war was declared. 

" When later he saw the administration de- 
parting from the ancient landmarks of our insti- 
tutions in its enchanted dream of empire and 



528 BRYAN NOMINATED 

militarism he was the first to raise a warning 
voice, and resigning his commission on the day 
the treaty of peace was signed he threw himself 
into the contest for the rescue of the Republic. 

" Realizing that imperialism, like the fabled 
Autaeus, was born of earth, and that, contented 
upon the selfish, worldly plane of greed and 
gold, it was of giant strength, and if thrown 
down would rise again refreshed from contact 
with its mother element, he, like the mighty 
Hercules, raised it above the sordid sphere from 
which its strength was drawn and on a plane of 
lofty patriotism he strangled it. 

" With the issues now clearly drawn no doubt 
remains as to the name of our candidate. On 
that question we are a reunited Democracy. 

" Already worthy allies, differing from us 
rather in name than faith, have shouted for our 
gallant leader again, and every State and Terri- 
tory has instructed its delegates to this Conven- 
tion to vote for him here. So it only remains 
for Nebraska to pronounce the name that has 
been thundered forth from the foot of Bunker 
Hill and echoed back from Sierra's sunset slope, 
and that reverberates among the pine-clad, snow- 
capped hills of the North, and rises up from the 
slumbering flower-scented savannas of the South, 
and that name is the name of William Jennings 
Bryan, her best loved son." 

It was six o'clock when Mr. Oldham men- 



BRYAN NOMINATED 529 

tioned the magic name, and then for thirty min- 
utes all the inspiring scenes which followed the 
reading of the anti-imperialistic plank were 
repeated, but with greater vigor, for the delegates 
were now bound together by a common cause 
and could afford to hug one another in a fierce 
record-breaking tribute to the famous Nebraskan. 
After twenty-five minutes of cheering and 
singing, which was assisted by the crash of cym- 
bals and the boom of the big bass drum in the 
band, Chairman Richardson attempted to call 
the Convention to order. But it was of no use. 
Everybody was in a frenzy of enthusiasm and 
could not be stilled by any gavel or any voice. 
For five minutes more the extraordinary scene 
continued, and it was only when men sank from 
sheer exhaustion that it w^as possible for dele- 
gates who w^ere to second the nomination of the 
Nebraskan could make their way through the 
tossing flags and plumes to the speakers' plat- 
form. 

The delegates finally settled down for the 
seconding of the nomination. Arkansas yielded 
to Texas, and Mr. Perkins spoke for Bryan. At 
the close of Mr. Perkins' speech the delegates 
yelled vociferously for Hill. Ex-Senator White 
of California got the platform and made a telling 
speech that was cheered lustily. Colorado gave 
way to Illinois, and Judge Thompson made a 
short but stirring speech. 



530 BRYAN NOMINATED 

Connecticut yielded to New York, ar.d tlien 
came one of the most dramatically en'.siu^iastic 
scenes of the Convention. David B. liiil, the 
man for whom the delegates had shouted more 
than for any other man, with the possible excep- 
tion of Mr. Bryan, and who has proclaimed at 
all times that he is a Democrat, arose slowly 
from his seat in the New York delegation and 
walked toward the platform. Again pandemo- 
nium reigned. This would have been considered 
impossible after all that had happened. But 
delegates and spectators had a reserve force of 
strength, and they made use of it now. Never 
did a man march to the speakers' stand of a 
national convention with greater honor. For 
five minutes the window panes of the hall rattled 
in their frames, so terrific was the cheering. The 
man for whom everybody had hungered to see 
and hear for the past two days was before them. 
And when, with one hand thrust in his trousers' 
pockets, he paid the tribute that he did to Mr. 
Bryan, the cheering was deafening. But this 
v/as only natural. Democrats were again to- 
gether, and David B. Hill was under no cover 
in the general rejoicing. He stood boldly out, 
and there was no equivocation in his words. 

Mr. Hill said : 

" In behalf of the Democratic masses of the 
State of New York, for whom I assume to speak 
on this occasion, I second the nomination which 



BRYAN NOMINATED 



531 



has been made from the State of Nebraska. 
William J. Bryan does not belong to Nebraska 
alone ; he belongs to the North and the South, 
to the Bast and the West — he belongs to the 
whole country at large. It is a nomination 
already made in the hearts and affections of the 
American people. From the closing of the polls 
four years ago until this very hour there never 
was a possibility of any other nomination being 
made. 

" He is a gentleman that needs no introduction 
to this audience nor to the American people. 
Nebraska is proud of him, but New York is 
proud of him also. For four years he has upheld 
the banner of Democracy in almost every State 
in this Union. His voice has been heard, not 
only in behalf of our principles, but in behalf of 
the cause of the common people, in behalf of the 
workingmen, in behalf of humanity. He will 
have the support of his party — a united party. 

" He is strong, strong with the masses, strong 
with the farmers, strong with the artisan — 
stronger even than his own cause. His integrity 
has never been questioned during all the time that 
he has been under the gaze of the American 
people. His statesmanship has been exhibited in 
the halls of Congress. No others have served 
during such a brief period that made such an im- 
pression upon the minds and hearts and con- 
science of the American people. 



532 BRYAN NOMINATED 

"This Convention meeting here to-day in this 
most beautiful city, surrounded by this hospi- 
table community, was, indeed, the proper place to 
nominate this candidate. The cause he repre- 
sents is peculiarly the cause of the people. 

" His election will mean honesty and integrity 
in public office. It will mean the amelioration 
of the people; it will mean the destruction of 
criminal trusts and monopolies. It will mean 
economy and retrenchment in governmental 
affairs; it will mean the supremacy of the Con- 
stitution everywhere throughout this land 
wherever the flag floats. It will mean a return 
to the advocacy of the principles of the Declara- 
tion of Independence. It will prove a blessing 
not only to those who vote for him, but to the 
few who may vote against him. 

"I, as you well know, was one of those who, 
in good faith, doubted the wisdom of some por- 
tions of the platform, doubted the propriety of 
going into details on certain portions of our 
financial policy, but the wisdom of this Conven- 
tion has determined otherwise, and I acquiesce 
cheerfully in the decision. 

" I am here to say further that the platform 
that has been read is worthy of the vote and 
approval of every man who claims to be a Demo- 
crat in this country. Those who do not admire 
some portions of it can speak for others. If 
there are some issues which thev do not desire 



BRYAN NOMINATED 533 

to present as strong as some others, they can at 
least talk about something in this platform that 
is worthy of their approval. At least, in some 
portions of this country the paramount issue is 
going to carry, and carry strongly. 

" This is the time for unity and not for divi- 
sion. I plead to-night for party harmony and for 
party success. I plead because of the dangers 
which confront us. As sure as election day 
comes, and if we should happen to be defeated, 
which I do not believe, what will follow? It 
means the restoration of a federal election law. 
It means a reduction of the apportionment of 
members of Congress throughout the Southern 
States of our Union. It means a consequent 
reduction in the electoral college from our South- 
ern States, and the plea of necessity will be 
made, because it will be apparent by election 
day that some of the new-born States of the 
West, which they had relied upon, had gone over 
to the Democratic party. 

" This is a most important election ; important 
for our party; important for our country; im- 
portant for the best interests of all our people. 
I have no time now to analyze this platform. 
We are speaking of men and not of measures 
now. 

"This nomination will meet the approval, 
based upon this platform, of the people of the 
East. What we need is an old-fashioned rousing 



534 BRYAN NOMINATED 

Democratic victory throughout this land. That 
will mean a restoration of the currency of our 
fathers. That will mean home rule for States. 
That will mean popular government restored. 
That will mean the supremacy of equal laws 
throughout the country and in this great result 
which we hope to achieve. I am here to say 
simply in conclusion that New York expects to 
join with you with her thirty-six electoral votes." 

There were many more speeches, all voicing 
approval of the platform and of the nomination 
from Nebraska. When Hawaii was called, John 
H. Wise of the delegation rose in his seat. The 
Convention demanded that he take the platform, 
which he did amid great applause. Mr. Wise 
said: 

" The delegates of Hawaii have traveled over 
4,000 miles to attend this Convention. Last 
night a delegate from Hawaii cast the winning 
vote for the 16 to i issue. What could you 
expect, then, from Hawaii? 

" We come here, therefore, to nominate that 
greatest of Americans, towering head and shoul- 
ders over all his countrymen, the man who is 
brave enough to stand up according to his own 
principles. That man, gentlemen, is the man 
we nominate. And, gentlemen, if we were only 
a State we would do more for that peerless Amer- 
ican, William Jennings Bryan." 

Mrs. Cohen of Utah, the first woman to sit as 



BRYAN NOMINATED 



535 



a delegate iu a national convention, came next, 
and was received with terrific applause. She 
spoke for not over a half minute, and so faintly 
that her voice could scarcely be heard. She 
seconded the nomination of Mr. Bryan in behalf 
of Utah, and her speech concluded the seconding 
speeches. 

The roll call of States followed, and amid the 
wildest applause and enthusiasm Mr. Bryan was 
unanimously nominated. It was not until 8:50 
that the lung- worn but happy people left the hall. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

ADLAI E. STEVENSON. 

The business set for the third and last day of 
the Kansas City Convention was the nomination 
of a candidate for Vice-President. Notwithstand- 
ing the fact that the most important business of 
the Convention had been done, the large amphi- 
theater was crowded to overflowing when the 
Chairman rapped for order. 

Chairman Richardson plunged at once into 
the business of the day, and announced that 
nominations for Vice-President were in order. 
The Secretary began calling the roll of States. 
There were no candidates to be offered by the 
Southern States, and when California was 
reached it gave way to Illinois, and J. R. Will- 
iams, of Carmi, mounted the platform to nomi- 
nate Adlai E. Stevenson. He spoke as follows : 

" Illinois is grateful to Arkansas for this evi- 
dence of her regard. The united Democracy of 
Illinois desires to present to this Convention for 
the next Vice-President of the United States a 
Democrat. One who drew his first breath from 
the pure Democratic atmosphere of old Ken- 
tucky. One baptized in the great and growing 
Democracy of Illinois ; one who has stood 
536 



ADLAI E. STEVENSON 



537 



squarely on every Democratic platform since he 
became a voter. 

" One who has twice represented Congress in a 
district overwhelmingly Republican. One who 
is not a Rough Rider, but a swift rider. Not a 
warrior, but a statesman. A man who stands 
for civil government against military rule. A 
man who believes that a President of the United 
States who ignores the Constitution as the pres- 
ent Republican President has done must be one 
who loves his own glory far more than he loves 
the Republic. A man who believes American 
despotism is no better than any other despotism. 
A man who places human blood above human 
greed. 

"A man who will not trade away the precious 
life of an American soldier for a nugget of gold 
in the Philippine Islands. A man who would 
not give the 3,000 or 3,500 brave American sol- 
diers whom McKinley has sacrificed in that hot- 
bed of disease and destruction for all the islands 
in the seas. A man who, during four years of 
faithful administration as First Assistant Post- 
master-General of the United States, demon- 
strated that he knows a Republican when he sees 
him in an office that belongs to a Democrat. 

" Nominate our man and you will not have to 
explain any speech made against Democracy, for 
he has never made any. A man in the full 
strengh of his manhood, able to canvass any 



538 ADLAI E. STEVENSON 

State in this Union. Gentlemen of the Conven- 
tion, Illinois makes no exaggeration when she 
tells you that in that great State the conditions 
are far better, the prospects are much brighter 
for Democracy than in 1892, when our candidate 
for Vice-President carried it by 30,000 majority. 
We have a State ticket stronger than we ever 
had before. We have but one Democracy in 
Illinois. 

" We voice the sincere sentiment of the De- 
mocracy of Illinois when we ask you to nominate 
a man whose name we will present, a man who 
has been tried, gone through the contest, and no 
weak spots found in his armor ; a man whose 
high character and ability recommend him to the 
people in every part of this Republic ; a man who 
possesses all the noble attributes of a nobleman, 
great and good enough to be President of the 
United States, with a platform that reads like 
a bible, and with these two faithful Democrats 
standing together, shoulder to shoulder, we can 
sweep criminal aggression and McKinley hypoc- 
risy off the face of the earth. 

"Gentlemen of the Convention, we now pre- 
sent to you as the choice of the united Democracy 
of our State that distinguished statesman, that 
splendid, vigorous, reliable Democrat, ex- Vice- 
President Adlai B. Stevenson of Illinois." 

Mr. Williams did not have time to finish the 
last syllable of Mr. Stevenson's name before the 



ADLAI E. STEVENSON 



539 



applause broke in. Illinois delegates took the 
lead. Before the Congressman liad reached his 
seat the delegations that were for the Illinois 
man were on their feet. It was evident that 
about half of the Convention was for Stevenson, 
and the expressions of fear on the faces of some 
of the Illinois men vanished as they noted the 
support pledged to their standard-bearer by those 
who were up and in the chairs, waving flags, 
handkerchiefs, hats or anything that came to 
hand. Noting the strength that even at the first 
outburst had rallied to Stevenson, other dele- 
gates here and there through the body of the 
hall rose in their seats to join those who, though 
none other had been nominated seemed to have 
an assured lead. 

Mayor Rose of Milwaukee stood upon a chair 
and waved his hat as if he were trying to attract 
the Chairman's eye. All but three of the Wis- 
consin delegation aided him with lungs and 
waving arms. Utah, Pennsylvania and New 
Hampshire in the north end of the hall joined 
the chorus. On the other side Iowa and Texas 
were the largest bodies of delegates on their feet. 

Finally the roll call was permitted to go on. 
Connecticut gave way to Minnesota amid bois- 
terous cheers for Towne, and L. A. Rosing placed 
the name of Charles A. Towne in nomination. 
When Delaware was reached it gave way to New 
York, and every one got ready to listen to the 



540 ADLAI E. STEVENSON 

uomination of John W. Keller, the caucus candi- 
date of New York. Senator Grady hurried from 
the seats of the New York men and the tall 
Chairman introduced him. No one outside of 
the New York delegation and not all within it 
knew what was coming. The Convention lis- 
tened to the speaker apathetically as he spoke a 
few words about the great State of New York, 
because all orators from New York do that. 
But Grady began extolling the merits of his 
candidate, and a few who plucked up their ears 
were amazed at the characteristics he was attrib- 
uting to John W. Keller, who has been known 
chiefly as a writer of newspaper matter rather 
than as a statesman. But Grady could not keep 
his secret forever, and at length he wound up 
with the name of his candidate, fired at the Con- 
vention like a bullet from a gun — " David Ben- 
nett Hill." 

Instantly an uproar broke loose. There was 
a short, sharp bark of delighted surprise from 
the delegates who had been listening, followed 
by a roar of approval from the galleries when 
the word was passed up there. "Who did he 
name ? " asked 10,000 people, leaning toward 
their neighbors, and when the answer was made, 
" Hill," the voices joined in the roar of cheering. 

Almost as soon as his name was mentioned 
Hill hurried to the stage and stood a bit back of 
the Chairman, waiting for an opportunity of 



ADLAI E. STEVENSON 541 

speaking with Grady. When the Conventiou 
saw Hill the tumult was redoubled. An enthusi- 
astic New Yorker had jerked the standard of 
his State from its position beside a chair, and 
was waving it high above his head. Three or 
four Southern States joined New York, and in a 
few minutes half a dozen blue State signs were 
in a group before the Chairman's desk, waving 
back and forth or tossing above the heads of the 
delegates. The band broke in with the " Stars 
and Stripes Forever," and the galleries, which 
had quieted down a bit in their interested observ- 
ance of the action of the delegates, seemed to be 
spurred on by the music to redoubled efforts. 

Hill came forward to the Chairman's desk 
looking rather pale. He did not smile or appear 
pleased over the ovation tendered him. The 
applause was renewed when he appeared, but it 
stopped as soon as he raised his hand. He 
spoke in a low tone at the start — so low that he 
was requested from a dozen parts of the hall to 
speak louder. He began by paying a compli- 
ment to the other men who had been or who 
would be named for Vice-President and said that 
for personal reasons he could not accept the 
nomination. He appealed to the Convention not 
to embarrass him by insisting, and he ended his 
address by saying, in a ringing tone heard all 
over the hall : " It is not fair to me to place mc 
in this position." 



542 ADLAI E. STEVENSON 

At several of the sessions Hill had been ten- 
dered ovations which showed that he was clearly 
a favorite of the majority of the delegates. He 
was not a candidate, and it was not until a few 
minutes before Grady arose to make the nomi- 
nating speech that Croker had decided to have 
Hill's name put before the Convention. The 
affair was an incident of New York City politics, 
and while it was unpleasant it did not hurt Hill. 

As the roll call proceeded, Idaho gave way 
to Washington, and W. H. Dumphy placed J. 
Hamilton Lewis in nomination. A. Lee Knott of 
Maryland nominated Governor John W. Smith. 
Delegate M. Gates of North Caroline placed 
Colonel Julien Carr in nomination, and M. A. 
Dougherty of Ohio named Abe W. Patrick of 
that State. 

Then came the roll call of States for the cast- 
ing of votes. Stevenson led, with Hill a strong 
second. When the roll call was ended there 
was a mad rush to change the vote of those 
States that had not voted for Stevenson, the 
result being the vote of the Convention was 
finally recorded unanimously for Stevenson, and 
so announced by the Chairman. There was 
little applause. All were in haste to get out of 
the hall to waiting trains. A few delegates re- 
mained long enough to pass the usual votes of 
thanks, in which Kansas City hospitality was 
warmly commended. 



ADLAI E. STEVENSON 543 

ADLAI E. STEVENSON. 

Adlai Kwing Stevenson, who was the tweutj^- 
third Vice-President of the United States during 
President Cleveland's second term, is now in his 
sixty-fifth year. He was born in Christian 
County, Ky., October 23, 1835. His parents 
were of an old North Carolina family, directly 
descended from some of the earliest Scotch-Irish 
settlers in that commonwealth. 

Adlai Stevenson's father was a Kentucky 
planter. The boyhood of the present nominee 
for Vice-President was spent on his father's 
estate. He attended the common schools until 
he was seventeen years old, when his parents 
removed to Bloomington, 111. For some time 
thereafter Adlai was a student in the Illinois 
Wesleyan University, but afterward returned to 
Danville, Ky., where his academic career was 
completed at Center College. He began study- 
ing law before his college course was finished. 
He returned to Bloomington, 111., and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in May, 1857. He then re- 
moved to Metamora, Woodford County, 111., 
where he began the practice of his profession, 
appearing frequently in the courts of Woodford 
and ]\IcLean counties, especially at Bloomington. 

Before young Stevenson had attained his ma- 
jority he began making political speeches. He 
was especially prominent in what was known at 
the time as the Know Nothing canii):iign, and 



544 ADLAI E. STEVENSON 

made numerous addresses denouncing the pro- 
scriptive tendencies of certain parties. This 
enhanced his popularit}^ among the large Irish 
and German population of his home county. In 
i860 he was appointed master in chancery and 
held that office until 1864. In the latter year he 
canvassed the State for the Democratic candi- 
dates for electors, of whom he was one. He was 
at the same time a candidate on the Democratic 
ticket for the office of prosecuting attorney for 
the twentj^-third judicial district and was elected. 
He held this office for four years and at its ex- 
piration returned to Bloomington, which has 
ever since been his home. 

In January, 1868, Mr. Stevenson formed a law 
partnership with his cousin, James S. Ev/ing, 
and the firm of Stevenson & Ewing soon took 
first rank at the McLean County bar. Mr. 
Stevenson was one of the earliest advocates of 
currency reform and was nominated for Congress 
on that issue in 1874 by the Democrats of the 
Bloomington district. The district was reliably 
Republican by about 3,000 majority, but Mr. 
Stevenson drew to his support many independ- 
ents and after a very exciting canvass was 
elected. He defeated his Republican opponent, 
the late General John C. McNulta, b}^ 1,232 
votes. While in the Forty-fourth Congress he 
served on the Committee of the District of 
Columbia and Territories. 



ADLAI E. STEVENSON 545 

In 1876 Mr. Stevenson was renominated for 
Congress by acclamation. This was a Presiden- 
tial year and, the party lines being very closely 
drawn, he was defeated by abont 250 plurality. 
President Hayes carried the same district by 
nearly 3,000 nlajorit3^ In the short session of 
the Forty-fourth Congress Mr. Stevenson took 
part in the exciting canvass of the electoral votes 
in the Tilden-Hayes contest and was an out- 
spoken advocate of a peaceful settlement. At 
the end of his term he resumed his law practice. 
In 1877 he served as a member of the board of 
visitors to West Point. 

In 1878 he was again nominated for Congress 
in the Bloomington district by the National 
Greenback Labor party. He was accepted by 
the Democrats, and carried every county in the 
district, receiving 13,870 votes, against 12,058 
for Congressman T. F. Tipton, Republican, and 
134 votes for L- M. Bickmore, Prohibitionist. His 
own county, which in 1876 gave Hayes nearly 
2,000 majority, and in 1880 gave Garfield over 
2,000 majority, was carried by Mr. Stevenson. 

In the Forty-sixth Congress JMr. Stevenson 
served as chairman of the Committee on Mines 
and Mining. In 1880 he was again renominated, 
and although a Presidential year, was defeated by 
but little more than 200 votes. At the end of his 
term, in 1881, he again returned to his law 
practice at Bloomington. In 1S82, the State 



546 ADLAI E. STEVENSON 

having meanwhile been redistricted, Mr. Steven- 
son was again a candidate for Congress, and 
came within 350 votes of carrying the new dis- 
trict. This was his last candidacy for Congress. 
In the following election his old opponent was 
re-elected by 2,700 majority. 

In 1884 Mr. Stevenson was chosen as delegate 
to the National Democratic Convention that 
nominated Grover Cleveland for President. 
After the latter's election Mr. Stevenson was 
appointed First Assistant Postmaster-General. 
Mr. Vilas, the Postmaster-General in President 
Cleveland's first cabinet, was a close personal 
friend of Mr. Stevenson. In the latter's capacity 
of first assistant he had jurisdiction over the 
appointments of more than 44,000 third-class 
postmasters. He was outspoken in his belief 
that, other things being equal, when reputable 
and efficient Democratic applicants were candi- 
dates for these offices, it was his duty to displace 
the Republican holders and appoint Democrats. 
Mr. Stevenson's official career in the postal de- 
partment gave him a national reputation for 
courage and integrity. 

President Cleveland nominated Mr. Stevenson 
to the bench of the Supreme Court of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, but the Republican Senate 
refused to confirm him. After President Harri- 
son's inauguration Mr. Stevenson again returned 
to his law practice. In 1893 he was chosen as a 



ADLAI E. STEVENSON 547 

delegate-at-large from Illiuois to the National 
Democratic Convention in Chicago, and earnestl}' 
worked for the nomination of Mr. Cleveland. 
He wr:. unanimously elected chairman of the 
Illinois delegation and led his forces on the floor 
of the convention hall until his own name was 
entered in the Vice-Presidential contest, when he 
took no further part in the proceedings. 

Mr. Stevenson was nominated for Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States, and accepted the 
nomination in an eloquent speech at the official 
reception to the candidates in Madison Square 
Garden, New York. He afterward took a very 
active part in the canvass, speaking in most of 
the Western, Central and Southern States. 

The triumphant election of the Cleveland and 
Stevenson national ticket followed in November. 
As Vice-President during the next four years 
Mr. Stevenson made one of the most dignified 
and urbane presiding officers that the United 
States Senate has ever known. He was popular 
with the leaders of both parties, and his rulings 
were admittedly nonpartisan. In personal ap- 
pearance he is an ideal presiding officer, being 
of commanding presence and over six feet tall. 
Since the close of the Cleveland administration, 
in March, 1897, Mr. Stevenson has devoted him- 
self to his law practice, but has also been in con- 
stant demand as a speaker at important public 
gatherings. 



548 ADLAI E. STEVENSON 

Mrs. Adlai Stevenson was formerly Miss 
Letitia Green of Danville, Ky., the daughter of 
Dr. Lewis W. Green, an eminent Presbyterian 
minister, who was president of Center College, 
Danville, Ky., up to the time of his death. She 
was married to Mr. Stevenson in 1866. Mr. 
I Stevenson met his future wife at a reception in 
Ithe house of President Green, when he went to 
Danville to complete his education. Two years 
later Dr. Green died, and his daughter came to 
McLean County, 111., to live with a sister. The 
acquaintance begun in Kentucky was continued 
in Illinois, and resulted in marriage. 



CHAPTER XXVIl. 

BRYAN AND STEVENSON NOTIFIED. 

August 8, at Indianapolis, lud., William J. 
Bryan and Adlai E. Stevenson were formally 
notified of their nominations on the Democratic 
ticket for President and Vice-President respect- 
ively. Many noted Democrats and numerous 
Democratic clubs from all parts of the country 
visited the city to attend the exercises. Shortly 
after noon a procession was formed down town, 
including the candidates and their families and 
friends, and moved to Military Park where the 
notifications were made. 

Senator J. K. Jones, as Chairman of the Demo- 
cratic National Committee, presided, and Hon. 
James D. Richardson, of the Notification Com- 
mittee, delivered the address formally notifying 
Mr. Bryan of his nomination. In responding, 
Mr. Bryan delivered a lengthy address, and said 
in part: 

" I shall, at an early day, and in a more formal 
manner, accept the nomination which you tender, 
and I shall at that time discuss the various ques- 
tions covered by the Democratic platform. It 
may not be out of place, however, to submit a 
few observations at this time upon the general 

549 



550 CANDIDATES NOTIFIED 

character of the contest before us, and upon the 
question which is declared to be of paramount 
importance in this campaign. 

'' When I say that the contest of 1900 is a 
contest between democracy on the one hand and 
plutocracy on the other, I do not mean to say 
that all our opponents have deliberately chosen 
to give to organized wealth a predominating in- 
fluence in the affairs of the Government, but I 
do assert that on the important issues of the day 
the Republican party is dominated by those in- 
fluences which constantly tend to elevate pecuni- 
ary considerations and ignore human rights. 

"In 1859 Lincoln said that the Republican 
party believed in the man and the dollar, but 
that in case of conflict it believed in the man be- 
fore the dollar. This is the proper relation 
which should exist between the two. Man, the 
handiwork of God, comes first; money, the 
handiwork of man, is of inferior importance. 
Man is the master ; money the servant, but upon 
all important questions to-day Republican legis- 
lation tends to make money the master and man 
the servant. 

"The maxim of Jefferson, 'equal rights to all 
and special privileges to none,' and the doctrine 
of Lincoln that this should be a government 'of 
the people, by the people, and for the people,' are 
being disregarded and the instrumentalities of 
government are being used to advance the 



CANDIDATES NOTIFIED 



551 



interests of those who are in a position to secure 
favors from the government. 

"The Democratic party is not making war 
upon the honest acquisition of wealth; it has no 
desire to discourage industry, economy, and 
thrift. On the contrary, it gives to every citizen 
the greatest possible stimulus to honest toil when 
it promises him protection in the enjoyment of 
the proceeds of his labor. Property rights are 
most secure when human rights are respected. 
Democracy strives for a civilization in which 
every member of society will share according to 
his merits. 

"No one has a right to expect from society 
more than a fair compensation for the service 
which he renders to society. If he secures more 
it is at the expense of some one else. It is no 
injustice to him to prevent his doing injustice to 
another. To him who would, either through 
class legislation or in the absence of necessary 
legislation, trespass upon the rights of another, 
the Democratic party says, ' Thou shalt not.' 

"Against us are arrayed a comparatively small, 
but politically and financially powerful, number 
who really profit by Republican policies, but 
with them are associated a large number who, 
because of their attachment to the party name, 
are giving their support to doctrines antagonistic 
to the former teachings of their own party. 

" Republicans who used to advocate bimetal- 



552 CANDIDATES NOTIFIED 

lism now try to convince themselves that the 
gold standard is good; Republicans who were 
formerly attached to the greenback are now 
seeking an excuse for giving national banks 
control of the nation's paper money ; Repub- 
licans who used to boast that the Republican 
part}^ was paying off the national debt are now 
looking for reasons to support a perpetual and 
increasing debt; Republicans who formerly ab- 
horred a trust now beguile themselves with the 
delusion that there are good trusts and bad 
trusts, while, in their minds, the line between 
the two is becoming more and more obscure; 
Republicans who in times past congratulated 
the country upon the small expense of our stand- 
ing army are now making light of the objections 
which are urged against a large increase in the 
permanent military establishment ; Republicans 
who gloried in our independence when the na- 
tion was less powerful now look with favor upon 
a foreign alliance ; Republicans who three years 
ago condemned ' forcible annexation ' as immoral 
and even criminal are now sure that it is both 
immoral and criminal to oppose forcible annexa- 
tion. That partisanship has already blinded 
many to present dangers is certain ; how large a 
portion of the Republican party can be drawn 
over to the new policies remains to be seen. 

" When the war was over and the Republican 
leaders began to suggest the propriety of a colo- 



CANDIDATES NOTIFIED 553 

nial policy, opposition at once manifested itself. 
When the President finally laid before the Senate 
a treaty which recognized the independence of 
Cuba, but provided for the cession of the Philip- 
pine Islands to the United States, the menace of 
imperialism became so apparent that many pre- 
ferred to reject the treaty and risk the ills that 
might follow rather than take the chance of 
correcting the errors of the treaty by the inde- 
pendent action of this country. I was among 
the number of those who believed it better to 
ratify the treaty and end the war, release the 
volunteers, remove the excuse for war expendi- 
tures, and then give to the Filipinos the in- 
dependence which might be forced from Spain 
by a new treaty. In view of the criticism which 
my action aroused in some quarters I take this 
occasion to restate the reasons given at that 
time. I thought it safer to trust the American 
people to give independence to the Filipinos 
than to trust the accomplishment of that pur- 
pose to diplomacy with an unfriendly nation. 
Lincoln embodied an argument in the question, 
when he asked, ' Can aliens make treaties easier 
than friends can make laws ? ' 

" I believe that we are now in a better position 
to wage a successful contest against imperialism 
than we would have been had the treaty been 
rejected. With the treaty ratified, a clean-cut 
issue is presented between a government by con- 



554 CANDIDATES NOTIFIED 

sent and a government by force, and imperialists 
must bear the responsibility for all that happens 
until the question is settled. If the treaty had 
been rejected the opponents of imperialism would 
have been held responsible for any international 
complications which might have arisen before 
the ratification of another treaty. But whatever 
differences of opinion may have existed as to the 
best method of opposing the colonial policy, 
there never was any difference as to the great 
importance of the question and there is no dif- 
ference now as to the course to be pursued. 

"The title of Spain being extinguished, we 
were at liberty to deal with the Filipinos ac- 
cording to American principles. The Bacon 
resolution, introduced a month before hostilities 
broke out at Manila, promised independence to the 
Filipinos on the same terms that it was promised 
to the Cubans. I supported this resolution and 
believed that its adoption prior to the breaking 
out of hostilities would have prevented bloodshed, 
and that its adoption at any subsequent time 
would have ended hostilities. 

"If the treaty had been rejected, considerable 
time Vv^ould have necessarily elapsed before a new 
treaty could have been agreed upon and ratified, 
and during that time the question would have 
been agitating the public mind. If the Bacon 
resolution had been adopted by the Senate and 
carried out by the President, either at the time 



CANDIDATES NOTIFIED 555 

of the ratification of the treaty or at any time 
afterward, it would have taken the question of 
imperialism out of politics and left the American 
people free to deal with their domestic problems. 
But the resolution was defeated by the vote of 
the Republican Vice-President, and from that 
time to this a Republican Congress has refused 
to take any action whatever in the matter. 

"The Democratic party does not oppose ex- 
pansion, when expansion enlarges the area of the 
Republic and incorporates land which can be 
settled by American citizens, or adds to our 
population people who are willing to become 
citizens and are capable of discharging their duties 
as such. The acquisition of the Louisiana terri- 
tory, Florida, Texas, and other tracts which have 
been secured from time to time, enlarged the 
Republic, and the constitution followed the flag 
into the new territory. It is now proposed to 
seize upon distant territory, already more densely 
populated than our own country, and to force 
upon the people a government, for which there 
is no warrant in our constitution or our laws. 
Even the argument that this earth belongs to 
those who desire to cultivate it and have the 
physical power to acquire it, can not be in- 
voked to justify the appropriation of the Philip- 
pine Islands by the United States. If the islands 
were uninhabited American citizens would not 
be willing to go there and till the soil. The 



556 CANDIDATES NOTIFIED 

white race will not live so near the equator. 
Other nations have tried to colonize in the same 
latitude. The Netherlands have controlled Java 
for 300 years, and yet to-day there are less than 
60,000 people of European birth scattered among 
25,000,000 natives. 

" A colonial policy means that we shall send 
to the Philippines a few traders, a fewnask-mas- 
ters and a few oflSce-holders, and an army large 
enough to support the authority of a small frac- 
tion of the people while they rule the natives. 
If we have an imperial policy we must have a 
large standing army, as its natural and neces- 
sary complement. The spirit which will justify 
the forcible annexation of the Philippine Islands 
will justify the seizure of other islands and the 
domination of other people, and with wars of 
conquest we can expect a certain, if not rapid, 
growth of our military establishment. That a 
large permanent increase in our regular army is 
intended by the Republican leaders is not a 
mere matter of conjecture, but a matter of fact. 
In his message of December 5, 1898, the Presi- 
dent asked for authority to increase the stand- 
ing army to 100,000. In 1896 the army con- 
tained about 25,000 men. Within two years the 
Republican President asked for four times that 
many, and a Republican House of Representa- 
tives complied with the request after the Spanish 
treaty had been signed and no country was at 
war with the United States. 



CANDIDATES NOTIFIED 557 

" If such an army is demanded when an im- 
perial policy is contemplated, but not openly 
avowed, what may be expected if the people en- 
courage the Republican party by indorsing its 
policy at the polls ? A large standing army is 
not only a pecuniary burden to the people and, 
if accompanied by compulsory service, a con- 
stant source of irritation, but it is ever a menace 
to a republican form of government. 

" The army is the personification of force, and 
militarism will inevitably change the ideals of 
the people and turn the thoughts of our young 
men from the arts of peace to the science of war. 
The government which relies for its defense 
upon its citizens is more likely to be just than one 
which has at call a large bod}^ of professional 
soldiers. A small standing army and a well- 
equipped and well-disciplined state militia are 
sufficient in ordinary times, and in an emergency 
the nation should in the future, as in the past, 
place its dependence upon the volunteers, who 
come from all occupations at their country's call 
and return to productive labor when their services 
are no longer required — men who fight when the 
country needs fighters and work when the 
country needs workers. 

"The Republican platform assumes that the 
Philippine Islands will be retained under American 
sovereignty, and we have a right to demand of 
the Republican leaders a discussion of the future 



558 CANDIDATES NOTIFIED 

Status of the Filipino. Is he to be a citizen or a 
subject? Are we to bring into the body politic 
eight or ten million Asiatics, so different from us 
in race and history that amalgamation is impos- 
sible? Are they to share with us in making the 
laws and shaping the destiny of this nation? No 
Republican of prominence has been bold enough 
to advocate such a proposition. The McEnery 
resolution, adopted by the Senate immediately 
after the ratification of the treaty, expressly 
negatives this idea. 

" The Democratic- platform describes the situa- 
tion when it says that the Filipinos cannot be 
citizens without endangering our civilization. 
Who will dispute it ? And what is the alterna- 
tive? If the Filipino is not to be a citizen, shall 
we make him a subject ? 

"On that question the Democratic platform 
speaks with emphasis. It declares that the 
Filipino can not be a subject without endanger- 
ing our form of government. A republic can 
have no subjects. A subject is possible only in 
a government resting upon force. He is un- 
knov^^n in a government deriving its just powers 
from the consent of the governed. 

"The argument, made by some, that it was 
unfortunate for the nation that it had anything 
to do with the Philippine Islands, but that the 
naval victory at Manila made the permanent ac- 
quisition of those islands necessary, is also un- 



CANDIDATES NOTiriED 



559 



sound. We won a naval victory at Santiago, but 
that did not compel us to hold Cuba. The shed- 
ding of American blood in the Philippine Islands 
does not make it imperative that we should re- 
tain possession forever; American blood was 
shed at San Juan Hill and El Caney, and yet 
the President has promised the Cubans inde- 
pendence. The fact that the American flag 
floats over Manila does not compel us to exer- 
cise perpetual sovereignty over the islands ; that 
flag waves over Havana to-day, but the Presi- 
dent has promised to haul it down when the flag 
of the Cuban republic is ready to rise in its 
]ace. Better a thousand times that our flag in 
tnj. Orient gave way to a flag representing the 
idea o_ celf-government than that the flag of this 
Republic should become the flag of an empire. 

"There is r.n easy, honest, honorable solution 
of the Philippine question. It is set forth in the 
Democratic platform, and it is submitted with 
confidence to the American people. This plan I 
unreservedly indorse. If elected, I shall convene 
Congress in extraordinary session as soon as I 
am inaugurated, and recommend an immediate 
declaration of the nation's purpose— first, to es- 
tablish a stable form of government in the Philip- 
pine Islands, just as we are now establishing a 
stable form of government in the Island of 
Cuba; second, to give independence to the 
Filipinos, just as we have promised to give lude- 



560 CANDIDATES NOTIFIED 

pendence to the Cubans; third, to protect the 
Filipinos from outside interference while they 
work out their destiny, just as we have protected 
the Republics of Central and South America, 
and are, by the Monroe doctrine, pledged to pro- 
tect Cuba. 

" Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the Com- 
mittee, I can never fully discharge the debt of 
gratitude which I owe to my countrymen for the 
honors which they have so generously bestowed 
upon me; but, sirs, whether it be my lot to 
occupy the high office for which the Convention 
has named me, or to spend the remainder of my 
days in private life, it shall be my constant 
ambition and my controlling purpose to aid in 
realizing the high ideals of those whose wisdom 
and courage and sacrifices brought this Republic 
into existence. 

" I can conceive of a national destiny surpass- 
ing the glories of the present and the past — a 
destiny which meets the responsibilities of to-day 
and measures up to the possibilities of the future. 

" Behold a republic, resting securely upon 
the foundation stones quarried by revolutionary 
patriots from the mountain of eternal truth — a 
republic applying in practice and proclaiming 
to the world the self-evident proposition that all 
men are created equal ; that they are endowed 
with inalienable rights; that governments are 
instituted among men to secure these rights ; 



CANDIDATES NOTIFIED 561 

that governments derive their just powers from 
the consent of the governed. 

"Behold a republic in which civil and religious 
liberty stimulate all to earnest endeavor, and in 
which the law restrains every hand uplifted for a 
neighbor's injury — a republic in which every 
citizen is a sovereign, but in which no one cares 
to wear a crown. 

" Behold a republic standing erect while em- 
pires all around are bowed beneath the weight of 
their own armaments — a republic whose flag is 
loved while other flags are only feared. 

" Behold a republic increasing in population, 
in wealth, in strength, and in influence, solving 
the problems of civilization and hastening the 
coming of a universal brotherhood — a republic 
which shakes thrones and dissolves aristocracies 
by its silent example and gives light and inspira- 
tion to those who sit in darkness. 

"Behold a republic gradually but surely be- 
coming the supreme moral factor in the world's 
progress and the accepted arbiter of the world's 
disputes — a republic whose history, like the path 
of the just, 'is as the shining light that shiueth 
more and more unto the perfect day.' " 

At the close of Mr. Bryan's address of accept- 
ance, Governor Thomas, of Colorado, formally 
notified Mr. Stevenson of his nomination for the 
Vice-Presidency. In response Mr. Stevenson 
delivered a clear and concise address, in which 



562 



CANDIDATES NOTIFIED 



he reviewed the attitudes of the two parties in 
the campaign, and called particular attention to 
the strength of the Democratic platform in its 
expressions on the subjects at issue. He con- 
demned the Dingley tariff law and the lavishness 
of the administration in its expenditure of public 
money. The recent increase and growth of trusts 
he charged as being due to this tariff law. Like 
Mr. Bryan, he held that the subject of imperial- 
ism was the paramount issue. For the Philippine 
Islands he proposed : 

" They should be given unmistakable assur- 
ance of independence. Protection by our govern- 
ment should not now be withheld against outside 
interference. The same protection should be 
theirs, as heretofore extended to the little states 
of Central and South America. Under existing 
conditions there should be no hesitation upon 
our part in giving them protection against the 
cupidity or aggressive spirit of other nations." 

Mr. Stevenson spoke with the assurance and 
certainty of one who has carefully considered 
every detail of his subject and formed a conclu- 
sion from which there can be no wavering. 



3477-2 



